Visual Artist & Film Photographer (she/her)
Meet Katherine Perla (aka Kat)
Katherine Perla is a first-generation Canadian and El Salvadorian multidisciplinary artist specializing in acrylic paintings. She is also a 4th-year student at York University, majoring in Communication Studies. She is a self-taught artist passionate about using the arts for self-expression and giving back to the community. Her work primarily focuses on artwork that advocates for other people's struggles and stories.
She is actively expanding her artistic skills and learning more about oil paints, sculpting and other forms of creative art like film. Katherine presently creates work exploring and honoring her parents’ stories and roots as an El Salvadorian woman. These stories are often restricted; however, she believes that highlighting the resilience, strength, and focus of her parents' stories highlights the amount of growth we have within ourselves.
Katherine is presently creating and participating in many external programs; she’s currently working with Flaunt-It, Kickback, and Patchwork. As an intern at Flaunt-It, she is publishing four canvases that represent her two parent’s life immigrating from El Salvador to Canada in Flaunt It’s Visual Anthology. Through these programs, she’s incorporating her artistic skills as a way to impact her community. Katherine wants to give back to her community and make the arts more accessible by opening a creative space for kids to explore their creative passions while also working with other programs to continue sharing her passion of giving back to her community.
"Disparity"
Four 16” x 20” Acrylic on Canvas — By Katherine Perla — Artist Statement [EXCERPT]
Throughout my process here at Flaunt-It, I originally wanted to create a piece that represented my culture. And through that, I was going to use my parents as a basis for representing my culture. However, as we started delving into self-reflection. I realized I truly wanted to create a piece that commented on my two parents' stories of immigrating from El Salvador to Canada.
My parents both originate from two opposite sides of cities in El Salvador, with equally different morals and values depending on the area they lived in. My mother grew up in San Salvador in Zacamile, which is a very city-like area, while my father grew up in San Miguel in Comacaran, which consists of farmland. My father grew up very poor, while my mother grew up in a middle-class environment. Through the pictures depicted in the first two canvases, we are able to see these different environments they both lived in. Although my father doesn’t have any childhood photos of himself, the photos of himself in his city still depict a more grounded root environment, while my mother grew up with a more ‘normal’ educated lifestyle.
