Kathe Fraga

Formation

Background

Naval family — both US coasts, South America, Europe

Quito · Paris · Copenhagen · London

Education

US International University — Sussex, England

Université de Grenoble — France

Degree

University of Washington — Seattle

Career

Advertising copywriter — Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu

Gallery

Gallery Fraga — Winslow Way, Bainbridge Island

Ran with husband Jeff for 6 years

Exhibitions & Collections

BIMA

"Revering Nature" Spring Exhibition · Beacon Gallery

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Ongoing

JG Art Gallery + Events — Bainbridge Island & Park City

Hospital

Swedish Hospital — Seattle, WA

Hospital

Island Hospital — Anacortes, WA

Hospital

Our Lady of the Lakes Hospital — Baton Rouge, LA

Commission

Inn at Langley — wine list books for world-renowned dining room

Press

2019

VIE Magazine — three-page feature, October 2019

"One Brush of Color at a Time"

2013

Luxe Interiors + Design — Pacific Northwest Edition, "Style Maker"

2013

Better Homes & Gardens — May 2013

2011

Seattle Magazine — March 2011

Intl

Casas & Mas (Mexico) · Maison Française (Turkey) · L'Officiel (Malaysia)

Collaborations

2017

Clé de Peau Beauté (Shiseido) — "Nuit de Chine" limited edition holiday

Inspired by MET exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass"

The Kominsky Method · The Office · Brooklyn 99

Paintings featured on set

Cards

Papyrus Cards — two collections

Wine

Fletcher Bay Winery — label art for "Tara Rouge"

Critical Context

Tradition

Chinoiserie — 17th–18th century European fantasy of China

Boucher · Pillement · Delft · Chippendale → Fraga's modern fresco version

Technique

Frescoed birch panel — powdery plaster ground reads as aged wall

Acrylic + gold ink + gold leaf, sealed with glossy lacquer

Tension

Bold cadmium red against delicate pink blossom branches

Modern interrupting the vintage — the loud against the quiet

Influences

Painters

Klimt · Chagall · Matisse · Bonnard · Paule Marrot (French textiles)

Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints

Sources

Vintage French wallpapers · 17th–18th century Chinoiserie patterns

Father's silk kimono from Japan — founding visual moment

Place

110-year-old Bainbridge Island stone house by the sea

Old fir floors, forest light — daily reminder of time and patina

Formation

Exhibitions & Collections

Press

Collaborations

Critical Context

Influences

Selected Works