The Artist Sees Differently: Kate Boone

Kate Boone, Museum Assistant

Kate Boone on post. Photo: Claire Norman

How did you learn about the Phillips?

My mom is really into art and a complete art buff. I grew up in D.C. and would go to the museum when I was young.

Do you feel you are inspired by the Phillips artwork ?

There’s something really special about being able to sit with the art all day. Just simply being in such a creative environment day after day really keeps my brain occupied. It’s funny because my work couldn’t be any more different than the art in the Phillips but I feel like it’s impossible not to feel inspired. There is so much variety which keeps it new and exciting, but at the end of the day I feel blessed to be sitting among works by some of the artists that truly started it all.

What do you listen to as you prepare your photographs?

I usually end up listening to something like Henry Mancini or the soundtrack to Woody Allen’s Manhattan or completely space out to some bizarre electronic music . . . or [the D.C. punk band] Bad Brains.

Who’s your favorite artist in the collection?

That’s very tough since there is so much that I haven’t even seen yet; however, I think I’m gonna have to go with Howard Hodgkin‘s As Time Goes By (2009). I can’t remember the last time I felt that moved by a piece of art. Although I really like Raoul Dufy, Degas, and André Derain.

Do you collect other artwork – or anything?

Polaroid cameras. However I never throw anything away so I could easily argue “what don’t I collect?” I have boxes and boxes of memorabilia from throughout the years and trinkets. From Pee-Wee Herman bobble heads to boxes of train tickets and old keys–I guess you could say I have it all.

-Rolf Rykken

Kate Boone, Never Date A Bartender, 2011. Photograph, 2×3 in. unframed, 5×7 in. framed. Private collection