In Conversation
Questioning Conventional Perceptions
Katherine Hunt's multimedia practice invites us to rethink the invisible forces shaping our views. Instead of solid answers, she raises thought-provoking questions to disrupt ingrained patterns. Discover how her aim is to engage viewers actively, transforming them from passive observers into co-creators of meaning.
1. Briefly describe the work you do.
In my multimedia practice, I examine the intersection of Cultural and Social Psychology with
aleatoric methodologies to investigate how culture subconsciously influences perception.
Instead of offering definitive conclusions, I provoke questions and challenge ingrained
perceptual patterns through non-linguistic and non-narrative visual forms. My work emphasizes
process over product, utilizing chance-driven frameworks that engage viewers as active
participants.
2. How did your upbringing in the snow-covered Midwest shape your artistic vision and your
approach to perception?
The seven long winter months from my northern upbringing in a monochromatic, all-white landscape sharpened my sensory perception of subtle differences. Because I wished to bring cultural and social psychological perceptual research off the academic pages and into the art studio, I deliberately employed an "economy of means" in my aesthetic and procedural approach by restricting my palette to shades of white, reflecting this adolescent-developed personal observation that white makes the most nuanced visible. Drawn to Minimalism and learning of Robert Ryman’s white paintings, a painter whose process echoed my own, Ryman noted that “White has a tendency to make things visible. With white, you can see more of a nuance; you can see more. I’ve said before that, if you spill coffee on a white shirt, you can see the coffee very clearly. If you spill it on a dark shirt, you don’t see it as well. So, it wasn’t a matter of white, the color. I was not really interested in that. White could do things that other colors could not do. If I look at some white panels in my studio, I see the white—but I am not conscious of them being white. They react with the wood, the color, the light, and with the wall itself. They become something other than just the color white. That’s the way I think of it. It allows things to be done that ordinarily you couldn’t see.”¹ Similarly, John Cage, describing Robert Rauschenberg's early "white paintings," stated they acted as "airports for lights, shadows, and particles," catching whatever passed over them. Both Ryman and Rauschenberg's approaches resonate with my belief in the power of white to investigate and broaden perception through subtlety.
¹ Color, Surface, and Seeing — Art21. https://art21.org/read/robert-ryman-color-surface-and-seeing/
3. How do you create a space for ambiguity and solitude in your work in an age of instant
images and information saturation?
With film, one enters a dark, quiet theater space that allows for mental preparation, a luxury
absent in a gallery or museum environment. With visual art, I cannot control how long a viewer
will engage with my work—whether they linger or glance and move on. In a crowded space filled
with noise, phones, and trending maximalist work, an all-white painting can stand out precisely
because of its stark simplicity. If it resonates, viewers may be drawn to spend time with it.
Lacking representational symbolism, the work foregrounds ambiguity, encouraging sustained
looking and allowing new forms of awareness to emerge through exploration. The viewer's
perceptual engagement becomes integral, positioning them as active participants. Interestingly,
children are often drawn to my work, viewing it as a blank slate. They engage physically, moving
around the piece and allowing their imaginations to flow freely. In contrast, adults often
approach art with rigid expectations, waiting to be told what to see rather than actively exploring.
The rewards can be substantial for those willing to stop and engage. My goal is not to present conclusive representations but to pose questions and disrupt ingrained perceptual habits
through non-linguistic, non-narrative forms. Whether through meticulously layered thread or
looped decelerated film sequences, my art process seeks to dismantle automatic patterns of
perception. Prolonged engagement with these works destabilizes habitual interpretive
frameworks, encouraging the dissolution of cultural filters that hasten premature
meaning-making.
4. Can you elaborate on how culture influences individual perception?
During my final year as an undergraduate, I encountered the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
in a cultural psychology course. The TAT is a projective psychological test in which subjects
create narratives based on ambiguous images, revealing underlying motives and perspectives
shaped by conscious and unconscious processes. Cultural psychologists emphasize that
responses to these images differ markedly across cultural contexts, offering insights into how
culture influences perception. One study that absolutely captivated me was the "Michigan Fish
Test," which presents an underwater scene featuring larger fish, smaller fish, bubbles, and
seaweed. American and Japanese students were shown this image for five seconds and asked
to describe it. Striking cultural differences in perception emerged: American students
predominantly focused on the larger fish, often disregarding peripheral details, whereas
Japanese students observed the entire scene, including the environment and interactions
between elements. Moreover, Japanese participants were more likely to notice subtle changes
in the image, an ability that eluded most American participants. This test demonstrated how
cultural narratives fundamentally shape perception: Japan's collectivist culture fosters attention
to group dynamics and holistic contexts, while American individualism promotes a focus on
prominent, central figures, such as the giant fish. Learning that I was seeing the world through
my eyes as “an American” was a transformative moment in my life.
5. How does your Cultural and Social Pyschology academic background manifest into an artistic
practice?
My motivation to pursue a career as an artist stems from a desire to convey the insights I have
gained through my academic studies within a more accessible and universally resonant visual
platform that transcends cultural boundaries. I found the realization that my American
background had unconsciously influenced my perceptions to be both enlightening and incredibly
disconcerting! At the same time, I was enrolled in a beginner's photography and 8mm film
course, where the instructor introduced us to the experimental and painterly short films of Stan
Brakhage. Encountering these moving images for the first time was a profound epiphany,
inspiring me to integrate the principles of cultural psychology that I had studied into a visual
language capable of bridging cultural divides.
6. Looking ahead, are there any new themes or media you’re excited to explore in your work,
and how do you envision these evolving with your existing practice?
I am eager to return to short-form moving images using archival footage as I prepare to embark
on my PhD application in Experimental Ethnography - employing the techniques of experimental
filmmaking to generate innovative modes of challenging, investing and allowing me to use a
methodological framework for investigating and interpreting culture’s influence on perception
regarding the surrounding world. I’ve been reading influential texts, such as “Archival
Apocalypse: Found Footage as Ethnography” from Experimental Ethnography: The Work of
Film in the Age of Video by Catherine Russell, and “Nothing Happens: Chantal Akerman’s
Hyperrealist Everyday” by Ivone Margulies, that have deepened my inspiration for this
integration of psychological, cultural and artistic academic pursuit and have inspired my need to
work with moving image once more. I’ve been recontextualizing archival and found-footage films
by manipulating time codes and looping decelerated sequences to challenge conventional
cultural representations and perceptual patterns. Utilizing techniques from "slow cinema," such
as minimalist, non-narrative visuals and ambient soundscapes, I aim to foster a
reconceptualization of cultural perception and discourse. My goal is to destabilize habitual
interpretive frameworks and dissolve cultural filters that lead to premature meaning-making.
