Katrina Koppa is a woodworker, illustrator, and art educator based in Madison, Wisconsin. Her work is centered around storytelling, play, and curiosity, and places her own experiences in an idyllic, whimsical world. Katrina received her BFA and certificate in Arts & Teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2025. Interested in both making and teaching, she has worked as a teaching assistant for Little Picassos and as an instructor for the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s Art Cart program. During her final semester at UW-Madison, Katrina served as the art editor for the Madison Journal of Literary Criticism, a student-run magazine composed of art and writing centered around political, social, and cultural issues. She is currently working as a gallery attendant at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, continuing to build her body of work, and exploring post-graduate opportunities.
Katrina’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions at UW-Madison including Something I’ve Seen Before, Chit Chat and Wood Chips, and WUD Art’s 96th and 97th Annual Student Art Shows, as well as in the Santa Reparata International School of Art’s gallery in Florence, Italy. She has been selected to participate in a group exhibition at the Overture Galleries in Madison, WI in November 2026, and her work will be exhibited in her first solo show at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in Milwaukee, WI in January 2027. Katrina’s work has also been selected for publication in Reed Magazine and Illumination Magazine, and has earned her scholarships from Peter’s Valley School of Craft and Penland School of Craft.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am most interested in storytelling, in play, and in visceral feelings of joy, whimsy, and human connection. Creating brings about these feelings in myself, returns me to a state of childlike curiosity, and through interacting with my work I hope that my audience experiences the same. I want to bring light and gentleness into our lives. My work is an insight into an idyllic space that reflects the things that make life feel like a gift. I place my own experiences and memories inside an intricately and more beautifully constructed world.
I find myself drawn to ornate patterns, natural wood and fibers, fine lines, and the delight of simple machines. All of these can be traced back to the things that brought me joy as a child—illustrations from my favorite books, lego houses, whittled twigs, fairy gardens, an early, eager interest in hammers and nails, hours drawing at the kitchen table. I lost sight of these things for numerous years of my life, but through rediscovering them, I’ve simultaneously rediscovered and begun to create a sense of self. Making art makes me feel human. Seeing my work come together helps me understand who I am and remember who I was. It allows me to play. Through making, through sharing and through teaching, I hope to give this experience to others.
