Artist Statement

Have you seen Guerilla Girl’s posters? Here is one that always stuck with me: “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met Museum? Less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art Sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.”

When I first began to share my work I could reclaim lost ground if I worked under “anonymous” or a male pseudonym. But it never sat right with me, my paintings are little peeks into my heart.

My creative process is less of an impending storm and more like waiting for muddy water to settle. I always think I know my intent when I start a painting but it always reveals its own direction with time. It took years of painting, and watching clarity emerge, to understand why it had to be my own name. My art comes out of my innate tendencies to nurture and to witness. These proclivities are inextricable from my experience of femininity.

I am often subject to the intense emotions of life - the light peeking through leaves, a poster for a missing calico, a child reaching for her mother’s hand. This is a heavy gift to carry. I feel lucky that my capacity for sorrow is only matched by my capacity for beauty and joy. I hope my work can show you the tenderness with which I hold the world.

Kaitlyn