PAST EXHIBITION

Kirsty Whiten

Feral Family Mammalian Pastoral

Sept. 2nd – Sept. 25th 2011

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ABOUT EXHIBITION

Kirsty Whiten – Artist’s Statement 2011

I use various photographs to work from; some I take myself, and others I find in books, newspapers or on postcards.  I want to create an off-balance psychological portrait, as simply as possible.

The realistic finish of the image is important; I make it tight so that the subject is the focus, the mark-making is simply constructive. My meticulous treatment of a subject is a kind of reverence, I use the detail and the time spent on each image to deliberately increase the emotional impact. I want to make representative images that contain the contemporary awareness of how we present ourselves.

I’m striving to make frank images of people, dealing with their psychology and socially constructed behavior; making the viewer aware of the sexuality, control and neuroses underneath appearance. I want to make them uncomfortable by presenting a character very directly and intimately.

Humans like to set themselves apart from the rest of nature. To me there is just a continuation, we are animal, we have drives and instincts that always flow just under the surface of civilization. I am really interested in this line between human and beast; language, culture, and tool-making were all once held up as examples of what makes us unique, and have all been shown to exist in other animals.

I hope that whatever I am exploring in my images remains honest and directly related to my experience as a human.