Welcome to my site!
I am a visual artist & researcher.
Please explore my original artworks & research.
About Dr. Katherine Robert, PhD
My Background
I am a life-long visual artist & researcher who discovered I am autistic and have ADHD in 2022 during my PhD dissertation research, which changed my life!! Prior to entering academia and the corporate world, I had my own painting and decorating business for 12 years in which I did custom faux finishes, murals, painting commissions, and color consulting. IMAGE: me painting a girl's room with a Paris theme for the Parade of Homes in WI in 2007.
Artist & Scholar
I earned my PhD in higher education in 2023 from the University of Denver. During this process I combined my love of writing, analysis, and research with my need to paint by using arts-based research methods and theorizing a unique conceptual framework called Creative Materialism. See my research page for more insights into this participatory inclusive subjective methodology. IMAGE: Me with my 2023 American Society for Engineering Education PIC I Best Paper award (best paper out of 10 divisions!) at the 2024 conference.
My unique traits & skills
My unique traits and differences as a neurodivergent adult include being interdisciplinary, a curious problem-solver, creative, detailed oriented, an excellent communicator, speaker & writer, and a life-long learner as well as having an exceptional ability to analyze, visualize & imagine. I bring these skills but also passion to my life and all my work. My dissertation research's unique conceptual framework of Creative Materialism provides me a lens to explore my own autistic and ADHD experiences through creating images. IMAGE: me at the Van Gogh museum -- a dream come true!!
Goals
My goal is to support and make visible the hidden neurodivergent adult community and transform associated stigmas. Additionally much of my current artwork explores my neurodivergent experiences of knowing and being in the world. IMAGE: me with a painting about neurodivergence in the background (2024)