Rob Katkowski's "Borderlands"

Glass Growers Presents: Borderlands by Rob Katkowski

Exhibition Dates: Friday, June 27 – Saturday, August 2, 2025

In Borderlands, longtime Glass Growers artist Rob Katkowski explores the threshold between the seen and unseen through a series of evocative, otherworldly landscapes. Now based in Seattle, Katkowski is making a special trip back to Erie for this summer feature—his first solo exhibit here in several years.

His paintings suggest mysterious entry points into alternate realms- twilight doorways, silent sentinels, and shimmering ponds that hint at hidden depths. These scenes evoke a sense of transition and wonder, where multiple worlds may coexist just beyond our reach.

Katkowski’s work dwells in spaces where reality grows thin- offering fleeting glimpses of portals, disconnection, and possibility. Through his richly imagined compositions, viewers are invited to pause and consider what lies beyond the borders of the known.

Join us for the upcoming Gallery Night Artist Reception:
Friday, June 27
5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Glass Growers Gallery & Gifts
10 E. 5th St., Erie, PA 16507

Refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.

Artist Statement:

"If other worlds exist how would you get to them? As an artist I set up situations in which certain conditions are created unlocking pathways that are typically invisible. Mysterious, leafless trees may appear at thresholds to lost worlds, doorways may appear at twilight or the shimmering surface of a pond may alert the viewer to hidden watery passages beyond. Still, other paintings may depict multiple worlds that have no discernible route from one to the other.

"In my recent work, cemeteries are transitional places that yield doorways to other realities. They sit at a crossroads where the veil of reality thins out to reveal pathways to the unknown."

Artist Bio:

“I was born near Pittsburgh, PA. I received my BFA in painting from the Ohio State University in 1998. In 2007 I received my MFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after graduate school, I attended an artist residency at the Brewhouse in Pittsburgh, PA. Afterwards I coordinated the Distillery Program residency from 2008 to 2011. Since 2007, I have exhibited in Pennsylvania, Washington, Alabama, Ohio, New York and Belgium. My work is included in the collections of the Fairmont Hotel (Pittsburgh, PA) and PNC bank (Manhattan, NY, Charlotte, NC and Pittsburgh,PA). I currently live and work in Seattle, WA.”