‘Kat Hutter and Roger Lee: Another California Day’ Brings an Abstract Environmental Experience to the Pasadena Museum of California Art

Rachael McDonald

Collaborative artists Kat Hutter and Roger Lee have brought us a concentrated dose of California vibes. One part painter and one part ceramicist, the duo have come together to create carefully crafted works that come alive with the energy of the places that inspired them. Having lived in various regions across the country, Hutter and Lee have aimed to capture the flavor and tone of everyday life as they have experienced it in each place. Traversing through South Carolina, Portland, Lake Tahoe, the Midwest and now Los Angeles, Hutter and Lee’s work is intimately emblematic of the lifestyles in each region and the people who lead them. 

The pair’s latest travels and endeavors have brought us a mixed media installation at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. “Kat Hutter and Roger Lee: Another California Day” presents a surreal atmospheric story of ordinary life in California. Emulating a mood that only the Golden State could generate, vividly painted ceramic sculptures shape a landscape exuding the sentiments and sensations of a day in California. Created and installed within only one week, this particular collaboration between the two artists incorporates works from their joint endeavor K&R ceramics alongside pieces from their individual practices and photographic works of the California terrain. Hutter’s abstract and minimal paintings and murals reflect the colors of the state’s geography and radiate life and energy while damp unfired clay loosely modeled after the succulents and native plants of the California landscape define the geography of the unadulterated sensory experience.

Inspired by the rough and passionate lifestyles of Angelenos, the artists have chosen to bring their own labor of love to Los Angeles in particular. The lovingly crafted elemental installation brings us a surreal reflection of our everyday lives in the vast land of California.

“Kat Hutter and Roger Lee: Another California Day” will be on view at the Pasadena Museum of California Art from April 16 through Sept. 11.