Katherine Westphal

Born in 1919 in Los Angeles. Westphal is widely considered one of the seminal figures who established quilting as a fine art. A dynamic artist, her work includes a wide range of mediums, including jewelry, books, paintings, and ceramics. Her folded-paper pieces use photocopied heat-transfer techniques and often are made into seemingly unlikely wearable sculptures. Westphal describes her work as mostly autobiographical exploration of her life and travels, the evolution of her carefully crafted works mirroring the lessons of her life. She was educated at the University of California, Davis, where she retired as a professor emerita in 1979. In 1980 she gave the keynote address at the World Craft Council conference, and her work is in the collections of dozens of museums. Katherine Westphal lives and works in Berkeley, California. She received the American Craft Council’s Gold Medal in 2009.