Katie Harwood (b. 1981) is a photography based contemporary artist.  Often on the road and traveling by car, Katie's work investigates ideas of home and revolves around the actions of collecting and discarding.  She grew up in Winnetka, IL, an idyllic Midwestern suburb, in the age of excess with a golden retriever and white picket fence.  Think Ferris Bueller's Day Off or any John Hughes film.  The stark contrast between the view from the outside of the house and the reality on the inside has provided rich fodder for her artistic practice.  Her home served as a kind of reliquary to the families past where few items were discarded and many emotions were swept under the rug.  The family divided during her formative years and the storybook home turned inside out.  She uses her personal history to examine the choices people make that determine value and their relationships to home. 

Katie received her BA from Columbia College Chicago and her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute.  She received the award for Innovations in Imaging from the Society for Photographic Education in 2015.  Her work was recently included in Root Division’s prestigious MFA NOW 2015 exhibition and CAPTURED 2015 at Newspace Center for Photography, which was named by American Photo as one of the ten best photography shows of the summer.  Katie is based in Boulder, CO.