Our Work
The 50 States Project is, at its core, a research project.
We are traveling across America to document and better understand our home country. Our research method is image making: painting for Kate and photography for Tom.
Kate
Painting
What does America really look like today? Kate asks: can I make paintings that document the way our country looks, setting aside nostalgia, preconceptions, and beauty? Her work focuses on the most ubiquitous landscape in these United States: sprawl. Strip malls, Walmarts, and fast food restaurants can be found almost anywhere in America — for better or for worse. Kate’s paintings looks at these places not as eyesores, but undeniable facts of contemporary life in this country. This is what America looks like.
Tom
Photography
There's an ongoing paradox in the United States. On average we're living in the safest time in history, yet we feel more afraid than ever. Tom’s non-literal photo narrative looks at how anxiety shapes our culture and reality, how those anxieties contribute to current tensions in the U.S., and his own own fears that the country is beyond repair. Tom’s work asks: Are things getting better or are they getting worse? What is the future of America?
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