Kathy Kissik

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Kissik creates one of kind mixed media works utilizing photographs, paint, plaster, wood, metal and found objects. Surfaces and textures figure prominently, while the palette primarily consists of muted tones and varying shades of gray. The effects of time and the changes that occur through decay and motion are unifying themes in her work. For Kissik, time functions as a metaphor for the human condition.

Her subjects are photographed from varying vantage points through the use of a medium format camera. Kissik is able to capture the nuances of shadow, light and change through the passage of time. This is accomplished over the course of days, months or even years.  She has recently begun to combine both traditional and digital photography into the same works. Kissik is highly interested in the tension that develops when these two related, yet distinctly different ways of capturing images are combined. This mixture of analog and digital processes within the same piece of work acts as a subtle tool for focusing the viewer’s attention and stimulating an emotional response.

Kissik is a Miami-based artist currently in residence at the South Beach Art Center. Her work has been featured in three solo shows in Ireland, as well as galleries in Toronto, Boston, Rhode Island and Naples, FL. Kissik is a two time recipient of both the Pollock-Krasner fellowship and the Paul D. Fleck Fellowship. Her work has been featured on television programs throughout America, Canada and Ireland. Kissik’s work is included in many private and corporate collections as well as that of The Museum of Fine Art in Boston.

Her next project titled “Better Living Through Chemicals” will be a study of factory spaces across America. In true Bauhaus tradition materials, form, and function will figure predominantly into the construction of the large-scale pieces.

In 2010, Kissik will be returning to the Banff Centre to embark upon her first collaborative residency as part of the Holy Springs Collective. This promises to be an exciting project, one that will feature painting, photography, sculpture, stories, poems, verse, music and movement. These artistic mediums will converge to create a one of a kind multi-media experience. The show is scheduled to tour Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2011.