E. M Forster wrote, “only connect,” a quotation that Kathryn Maxwell takes to heart in her artwork exploring the many forms of human connections to each other and the universe. Images from nature and the iconography of science and spirituality combine in mixed media works, prints, and installations that have been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues such as the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou; Dundee (Scotland) Contemporary Arts; Detroit Institute of Arts; and Denver Art Museum.

An avid traveler who has been profoundly influenced by her journeys, Maxwell seeks opportunities to travel and has been awarded artist residencies in China, Belgium, Greece, and Scotland. Awards in 2016 for residencies at Jentel (Wyoming) and Playa (Oregon), as well as a Membership Award to the TechShop through Arizona State University, provided the impetus to combine her early artistic love of watercolor with digital print techniques in her recent work.

Maxwell received an MFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a bachelor's from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Originally from Illinois, she studied and lived throughout the Midwest and Alabama before moving to Tempe, Arizona, in 1988. She was previously a professor at Arizona State University where she taught classes in printmaking and hybrid printmaking methods such as installation.