Kristen Cochran, Katy Heinlein, & Marcelyn McNeil Fold In

Fold In, organized by Katy Heinlein, brings three Texas-based artists together: Kristen Cochran of Dallas, and Katy Heinlein and Marcelyn McNeil of Houston, who have never before exhibited together. Cochran, Heinlein, and McNeil share an affinity for quiet, coyly emoting, almost non-objective abstraction. One essential tool is shared in the creation of their work: scissors. Each artist has a unique way of folding, cutting, pattern-making, zhooshing, and piecing together.

Cochran, Heinlein, and McNeil utilize a carefully considered palette in their toying, sensual exploration of pictorial and actual space. A loose architecture exists in all of the work, a structure that frames a ghostly emptiness. Each artist is pragmatic and provisional, utilizing an economy of means. There is deadpan humor present in the work, an obtuseness, a muted feeling, and an acceptance of mystery.

Kristen Cochran moved to Texas from the Pacific Northwest to complete her MFA at The Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in 2010. She has exhibited her work across the US and in Europe and has works in private collections in Italy and England. Cochran has exhibited extensively in Texas at venues such as Talley Dunn Gallery, Oliver Francis Gallery, CentralTrak, Barry Whistler Gallery, Liliana Bloch Gallery, RE gallery, Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas at Dallas, Eastfield College, The Dallas Contemporary Museum, and at Women & Their Work and Blue Star Contemporary for the 2011 and 2013 Texas Biennials respectively. She has been awarded residencies in Long Island City, NY, Mittersill, Austria, Banner, Wyoming and most recently completed a year-long residency at The Center for Arts and Medicine at Baylor Hospitals Sammons Center for Cancer Research. Cochran presently teaches drawing and sculpture at the University of Texas at Dallas and is an educator at The Nasher Sculpture Center. Since arriving in Dallas, she has taught as a lecturer and a teaching artist at Southern Methodist University, The Nasher Sculpture Center, The Dallas Museum of Art and The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Recent exhibitions include Architectures of Aspiration (r.i.p.) at Liliana Bloch Gallery, The LINE at Site 131 and Interstate at Beefhaus in Dallas.

Katy Heinlein was born in Baytown, TX in 1973. She received a BFA from University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in 1995 and MFA in Sculpture from Texas Tech University in 1999. In 2000, she relocated to Houston, TX, where she has lived and worked for 18 years. Heinlein has exhibited her work in Japan, Mexico, New York, Chicago, New Haven, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston and has completed artist residencies in Montauk, NY, Shigaraki, Japan, and Houston, TX. Heinlein has received grants and awards from Houston Arts Alliance, Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue, and Miami University.

Marcelyn McNeil is an artist making intimate works on paper and paintings. She has exhibited widely across the United States and participated in multiple Biennials.McNeil has been awarded residencies at VSC, 100 W Corsicana, and McDowell Colony. Additional awards include; The Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship, Zeta Orionis Fellowship, VSC, Purchase Award- The Portland Art Museum, CAAP Grant- The City of Chicago Cultural Affairs and Nominee- The Joan Mitchell Foundation. She earned an MFA from The University of Illinois at Chicago and taught painting at The University of Houston as visiting faculty in 2012-14.