CR 024: Katy Horan on Illustrating Witches and Murder Ballads
The multidisciplinary artist discusses her work on “Literary Witches,” her creative process, and her love of the dark side.
Katy Horan’s work is rife with trauma, pain, and longing. Through paintings, drawings, sculptures, and video, Horan explores female archetypes and experiences, pulling from a variety of sources—including folklore, horror films, feminism, music, and history—for inspiration. A 2003 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Horan is most widely known for her work on Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers, a collaboration with Taisia Kitaiskaia that was published as both a book and oracle deck and was named a Best Book of 2017 by NPR. Her next project, Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics & Lore, is due out in April 2025.
One might think, given her work, that Horan would come across as dark, dour, and mysterious in person. And yet, a peek at her social media posts (like this one, this one, or this one), and it’s apparent that she’s actually...kind of a goofball. “I don’t know how I ended up being such a weirdo externally,” she say…
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