Krause, Dorothy S.

Krause, Dorothy S.

Dorothy Simpson Krause is an American mixed-media artist who explores connections between digital imaging and printing with traditional art materials. She was a Professor of Computer Graphics at Massachusetts College of Art from 1974 to 2000, but her experience with computers started in the late 60s. Back then, she already combined traditional and digital media, producing artistic representations from photographs of different people and places from around the world. She is also a prolific writer, conference speaker, and consultant for manufacturers and distributors of art supplies of fine arts. Her works have been published in a variety of journals and magazines. Krause’s works were also frequently exhibited in international museums and galleries. She was an artist-in-residence in important institutions, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art, in 1997, and, more recently, at Florida Atlantic University’s Jaffe Center for Book Arts in Boca Raton, FL, in 2012.

During the late 90s she decided to switch from the digital to paper medium while collecting traveling memories through a paper travel journal. That prompted her to explore the hand work involved in the art of handcrafting books, and she completed more than 150 individually-themed journals that embody different visual narratives of her travel experiences. Though her initial academic training concentrated on traditional painting, her work has been a vast collection of mixed-media collages, computer-assisted images, hand-made books and journals where texture plays an important role. She likes to incorporates significantly distinct materials: plaster, metal, wax, paper, digital prints just to name a few. Krause also applies a similar technique of experimentation and flexibility in order to produce digital art, making use of sophisticated hardware and software to create large digital collages and lenticular prints, through which she is able to bring movement in addition to color and depth.

Collaborative art work is another of Krause’s passions. During her period at the Smithsonian, she organized the project "Digital Atelier: A printmaking studio for the 21st century" alongside artists Bonny Lhotka, and Karin Schminke, which earned them Smithsonian/Computerworld Technology in the Arts Award. Krause, Lhotka, and Schminke later published together, in 2004, Digital Art Studio: Techniques for combining inkjet printing with traditional art materials.

Dorothy is the recipient of numerous internationally-renowned awards, including the Swedish Digital Hall of Fame, FX Art and Design, the Kodak Innovator Awards, the 2000 Outstanding Artists and Designers of The 20th Century, from IBC (Melrose Press Ltd), and the SoHo Photo Gallery. She currently lives in Marshfield, Massachusetts.

–Vanessa Rodrigues Barcelos da Silva
Graduate Student Assistant for Manuscripts and Archives Management, Summer 2024

Sources:

(1) Interview with Dorothy https://canvasrebel.com/meet-dorothy-krause/

(2) Bio and CV: https://www.571projects.com/artists/27-dorothy-simpson-krause/biography/

(3) Krause’s official webpage: https://dotkrause.com/