Kristy Blackwell

Home: Toronto, Ontario
Title: Mirror
Media: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 76 x 61 cm
Website: kristyblackwell.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Mirror” is a painting of my friend, Mandy, whom I’ve known since high school. She is a talented, dedicated performer who sacrificed a simple, comfortable life to pursue her art. This painting portrays something of her and of our relationship. The simultaneous strength, energy, vulnerability, and risk required to perform as she does seems foreign to me. How can she expose so much of herself? This composition puts me in the room with her, close enough to place a hand on her shoulder and brush back her hair. But even standing so close, I realize I don’t have the same view she has. She is lost in her reflection in a moment of quiet contemplation – but for us, the shabby mirrored doors fracture her reflection, and I know I can’t see what she sees. No matter how public the figure is, we just see pieces.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Trained in fine art at the University of Guelph and in computer animation at the University of Toronto, Kristy has had an accomplished career as a digital matte painter and compositor on over 60 feature films. Her passion remains rooted in fine art, and her experience creating photo-real digital images has inspired her to experiment with various traditional techniques and materials.

Kristy was raised in small towns in Manitoba and Ontario and now lives and works in Toronto with her husband and two daughters. Her work won various awards and was featured in print and online art magazines. Her work is held in numerous collections.