Laurinda Belcher is a Parow-hailing, mostly self-taught artist whose work marries her background in early childhood development, interest in psychology and folklore and her experiential dance between the child- and adult-self. We caught up with her to find out about her process and what we can expect from her next body of work.

Give us a one or two-sentence bio. Who are you as a multidisciplinary artist? As a person?

As an artist, painting is a tool that allows me the freedom and space to address, make sense
and process being human. As a person, I try to be aware of what I can contribute and how to
create ways or experiences to communicate and feel connection.

Your bio mentions the relationship between your child-self and adult-self as a source of inspiration. Could you share a specific memory of what that looks like and how you tell that story through your art?

I have a vivid memory of being about 9 years old, sitting in my great grandmother’s kitchen in Goodwood, drawing. And my uncle, who I revered because he pursued a career in the arts, made quite an impression on me. I listened to his voice recordings as a young child (he did the voice of Ramkat). He sat down with me, talked about drawing and gave me some tips on how to draw a face. In that moment, just feeling seen and acknowledged by a grown up gave me courage. As an adult, realising how important these relationships and moments are, they continue to influence and inspire me.

As I grow older, many of these memories pop up like little reminders. Through the work it shows up as free-flowing drawing and use of colour (honouring the child) and then adding more structure by eliminating parts and keeping others (the bit of structure and support the adult can provide). It’s a balance.

Where else do you find inspiration?

Books, music and nature. A kind word at the right time. Stories, especially those of people who lived before my time. I observe a lot and my mind wanders. It could be a certain kind of green or the way the light falls and creates a shadow that reminds me of a story and then my brain just starts linking things.

What has your relationship to mediums been over time?

It started with pencils as a child; I never touched paint (too intimidating). Only years later, when working in the classroom, did paint and I become better acquainted. I started with acrylics, but over the last few years I have discovered water-mixable oil and have been working in oil ever since.

Tell us about a time that changed your life as an artist/creator.

Quitting my corporate job and moving to Hanoi, Vietnam and working in the early childhood environment. Living there for almost 3 years was the catalyst for so much change in the trajectory of my life. It was my first time travelling and living outside of the familiar. It was during that time I started painting.

Describe your ideal escape. What are the sights, sounds and textures.

Somewhere in nature. Or just at home on a rainy day; gentle patterings, warm blanket, soft light and a cat on my lap.

Describe the interior of the space in which you feel most creative.

My studio, it feels safe. I can stay as long as I want. There is a window with some greenery (from my neighbour’s house), I can close the door, put on some music. It’s a room filled with books and ideas and oftentimes my little cat comes to watch and takes a nap on my chair.

Tell us about your latest body of work. What does it mean to you? What do you hope it will invoke in viewers?

Bruce D. Perry is a psychiatrist that does such important work in the field of neuroscience and early childhood development. He talks about the capacity to love oneself and how it cannot be built in isolation, that we learn to love through being loved. And if we don’t know what it feels like to be loved it’s hard to extend that love inwards.

His work speaks to ways of seeing and investigating the meaning of certain objects (jewellery, pets and places) as ‘transitional’ in our lives. As homes that invoke feelings of safety, comfort and the familiar.

I hope the work inspires feelings of exploration, connection and kindness towards ourselves and others, looking at our behaviours in a way as to identify and remedy needs that are perhaps not being met.

What’s next for you?

I’m excited to be showing some larger oil paintings with 99 Loop in Cape Town soon and the annual studio release of new works in April. In the meantime I’m hard at work painting and planning a solo exhibition next year.

What advice would you give a budding creative who is afraid of putting their work into the world?

It’s ok to doubt yourself, but it is the work of the creative person to share the work. Think about what possibilities await beyond that doubt or fear. Think of all the people who have gone before you. If they did not share their work, you would never have seen it. The risk to not share is much greater.

Where can we find your work?

My Instagram account @laurindabelcher. At the link in my bio, you can subscribe to my newsletter and receive updates on exhibitions and when new work becomes available. At the moment, I have selected works available to view and purchase at 99 Loop and with Untitled Art online.

Looking for more local art? Sign up to our weekly newsletter, here.

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Cape Town-based Jonathan Silverman is a visual artist who works primarily in the mediums of painting, digital painting and video. His career spans a host of interesting cities and residencies, including one he just completed at Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy. We caught up with him to find out more about it, his exploration of the space between virtual and physical reality, what inspires his work and more.

Who are you and what drives your work as an artist and a human?

Personal identity is complex. You can avoid the question for a long time before it comes back to bite you in the behind. I believe it’s thanks to living these past few years in South Africa that I have started asking myself more honest questions about my own identity. I’m addicted to observing people, and like observing a tree or watching a dance, I try to become and perhaps embody that which I observe. So I fall in love with people and places, and I try to become them, momentarily. I like to think that empathy can come from this. The central subject of my work is Nature – what is it, and in what way do we as humans think we are separate or a part of it? Its complexity, strangeness and wonder make me want to continue making and exploring its impossible mystery. Essentially though, it is the work itself and the surprises it brings that become the engine for creating new work.

You’ve just finished up an artist residency with Palazzo Monti in Brescia, Italy. Can you tell us a bit about it?

The people that I met at Palazzo Monti were fantastic. They encourage and help you to create in absolute freedom, in what are incredible surroundings. Edoardo himself is a real dynamo who pours energy into the project and injects the place with the feeling that a lot is possible. Brescia itself is a small yet bustling town filled with Roman ruins, renaissance architecture and beautiful art, as well as some reminders of its past in the form of monuments and buildings created during the fascist regime. If one delves into it, the past can be a strong reminder of what we can learn and what we should leave behind. Since this territory has a documented history that goes back over millennia, Italian artists are still dealing with these questions.

Your work explores the space between virtual and physical reality. How did you come to this fascination?

It is a fascination and something else, like a constant awareness of a mortifyingly banal phenomenon. Almost half of the inhabitants on this planet carry around a little black mirror full of wonder and knowledge. I’m interested in how our experience of physical reality marries with our everyday virtual/digital one, and how they affect one another. I do this by looking at patterns and types of (n)ature, because it is nature itself that we are falling into and out of. Therefore, the main focus in my work is nature and our place within it – but not the other way around.

Having lived for a few years in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, I began to appreciate that nothing should be taken for granted and that the systems that sustain us in larger cities are fragile and can be easily affected by natural phenomena. Our current existential ecological crisis is one of the big reasons why I choose to look specifically at nature outdoors, that of the wild, and think about how our physiological selves are becoming increasingly divorced from our environment.

I believe, that as individuals and in our societies, we are going through a critical transformation, where we are caught somewhere in between our digital personas and the realisation that we need to be more connected to the rhythms of our natural world. We are living in a paradox because digital technology is distancing us from our environment and it is connecting us more to ourselves and to others.

You have lived and created in a number of interesting places. Are there any notable experiences you’ve had in any that have shaped you as an artist?

All of the places I have lived in have shaped me in profound ways. While on a long artist residency in India, there is one specific experience that was etched into my mind: One day in the muslim quarter in New Delhi, I witnessed Sufis who were singing towards the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya, a 13th-century enlightened individual. He was a saint who is known to have spread a message of tolerance and kindness to anyone, from any denomination. It made it clearer to me that our literal interpretations of traditions, religions and ideologies are so superfluous and not in line with acceptance.

I’ve lived in bigger cities, mainly London, and there is somewhat of a cool detachment that permeates these huge machines. I enjoy some good sarcasm and proper humour, but when it comes down to it, I personally believe that the time for being disillusioned, detached and too cool to speak plainly is a bit over right now. People need more honesty, sincerity and real human connection. The virtual sphere is a comfortable, sterile way for trying to be real, but ultimately it is a quasi reality, and we are aware of that now more than ever before. I suppose it is experiences like these that make me who I am and in many ways inform my work. By making physical work, I try to pour what I have personally been through into it, like loss and love, or longing and trauma.

Take us through your artistic process. Do you begin with an idea or do you just begin?

My process and routines have become an important part of my life because they give me rhythms that construct my day. Different times of the day lend themselves to specific types of making. The ideas in my work stay similar but slowly evolve. I don’t force them. The concept is clear and a steady foundation allows for complexity. I begin with making marks. I gather images; drawn, taken or collected. Then I collage. Then I find space and compose. I cut it, paste it, and work into it. Then I start the process all over again. The negative spaces in my work gain value and meaning through repetition and I express different things in the in-between when I draw, paint or make a digital piece.

Who or what inspires you and why?

Good and incomprehensible work, mine or other’s. Sometimes by climbing a mountain, listening to a podcast or music and by the strangeness of a shadow. There is nothing less inspiring to me than a very clever, didactic notion. I keep in motion by reminding myself that only questions are interesting and demand a response but in art, for me, answers are a dead end.

Describe the physical space in which you are most creative.

I’ve worked in all sorts of spaces. I once worked in a drying room for tobacco, which basically looked like a black pit with only one small window, 10 metres high. My ideal kind of workspace is an organic environment, in a constant state of becoming. After some time, a space acquires a buzz and a hum – little bits of writing on the table talk to the sketch on the wall, that flirts with editing software on the laptop, that spits on a print on the floor.

What is your proudest moment thus far? Your most prized goals for the future?

My proudest moment by far right now is that someone I worked with and mentored for a few years won a prize for his charcoal drawings. It made me proud that what means so much to me, means so much for him, and it has meant something to others as well. As for my own goals, I would like to create larger environments, show in more spaces that are not strictly commercial and collaborate with more talented people on meaningful projects.

What can we expect next?

I am working on a large painting and smaller drawings in a studio in Milan, which I am very fortunate to use during my time here. Then there is a long video piece I am working on, which will be shown in a sort of response to a piece by Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli, whose work could not be further away from my own. A collaboration with fashion designer Massimo Giorgetti is also on the cards. He is a keen collector and connector who discovered my work through Palazzo Monti, so there are some exciting prospects ahead.

Love Jonathan’s work? Follow him on Instagram (@jgsilverman) and visit his Artsy for more.

Looking for more on art? Take a look at artist Chris Soal’s collaboration with Lady Dior Art.

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Cape Town-based artist Kristi Marié Pretorius creates soothing watercolour works depicting the ocean, forests and light, and the marriage between water, pigment and parchment.

As a child, Kristi watched her father paint dreamy landscapes, trying her best to copy him. At school she went against the pencil-heavy grain of her classmates and further explored watercolour as her chosen medium. When she moved from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, the eight-to-five office life as a graphic designer consumed her, leading her back to where she began, paintbrush in hand.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzFgtPenujK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

She started a small art business doing illustrations for nurseries, before moving on to selling paintings of wildlife, nudes and botanicals at the Old Biscuit Mill. After developing tendinitis in her hand from spending hours on intricate details in her wildlife paintings, she started creating more fluid, abstract works.

Kristi’s varying styles form narratives for her daily life. When she feels out of control, she finds solace in controlled, detailed works. When she’s care-free, she paints loosely across the canvas, documenting the abstract simplicity of a life lived in the present moment. Expect to see her prints on textiles, wallpaper, and even yoga mats, soon.

Love Kristi’s watercolours? You can purchase them via her online shop or find her at the Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town every Saturday from 9am – 3pm.

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Cape Town-based collage artist Catherine Holtzhausen recently opened her first large-scale solo exhibition – entitled THATSCRAP – showcasing 365 mixed-media pieces.

This monumental project, which became a daily method of therapy while Catherine struggled with mental illness, is a visual record of Catherine’s attempts to reflect on the role that class, gender and economy have on her life as a female artist. The project took longer than 365 days after Catherine suffered a mental and physical burnout in 2017, making her hands tremor uncontrollably, which of course impacted on what she was able to create.

While Catherine normally cuts up her hand-printed and hand-painted watercolours, oil monoprints and collagraphs, before putting them back together to create a complete artwork, she experimented with found imagery from old issues of National Geographic, as well as film photography during this time.

Take It.

As the project continued, Catherine’s artworks matured, challenging social constructs women face on a daily basis. Her work aims to invoke a sense of joy in the audience, to remind the viewer in a, at times, humorous way that they are worthy and wonderful.

The exhibition is open until 31 May at Alliance Française du Cap, 155 Loop Street, Cape Town.

To keep up to date with Catherine and her work, follow her on Instagram.

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After spotting Cape Town-based artist Hubert Barichievy’s little pop bust sculptures at his recent exhibition at 91 Loop Street in Cape Town, we got in touch to find out more about these colourful creations.

When did you start making pop busts?

I started sculpting the first of the pop busts around August 2013.

How do you choose which icons to create?

The choice of icons or heroes was not an easy task. I started with Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí – as an artist I thought the best way for me would be to start with artists. There were a few that had to be in the series as popular culture figures, drawing from Andy Warhol’s famous silkscreen portraits. Some were learned through conversation and some of them were added to give an edge to the series. Most of all, the icons where chosen for their personal attributes, their certain traits, their stories, their individualism. If I look at Bruce Lee, I see dedication and practice, Bill Murray reminds me not to take life so seriously, and if I see Gandhi, I think, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. All the busts have a certain attribute that I can use in my toolbox of life.

What are the busts made of and how long do they take to make from start to finish?

The busts start as a lump of Plasticine. I hand sculpt the busts then create a mould and cast the bust with a polyurethane-based product. I generally work on two or three busts at a time. The reason for this is when I get stuck or battle with a bust I move over to a different one and sometimes solve the problem.

The time spent on a bust is hard to tell, as I do other work and other sculptures during the day and work on the busts when I have the time. I think my quickest one was around 75 hours, the longest one, I shudder to think. I spent enough time on one to build a small house from scratch, including planting the grass and painting the walls.

Which one of your busts is your favourite, and why?

That is a tricky question. My favourite changes, as it depends what I’m personally focusing on. My favourite currently would be Sir David Attenborough. I am trying to find a way where I can further my skills as a sculptor, yet give something back to communities. In the spirit of Attenborough, I feel I need to be more involved in protecting or creating awareness of our beautiful world, specifically South Africa.

Sir David Attenborough

What’s next for you?

I have been blessed with the pop busts and will definitely revisit the series in future, but I feel I need to build on my skills as a sculptor. I have two projects that I am currently working on. I am building up a body of work for my first solo exhibition – these works will be completely different from the bust series, but will be drawing on the skills and lessons I learned. I am also working on a community-based project that is still in its early stages of conception.

To view more of Hubert’s work, visit his website or keep up to date via Facebook.

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Cape Town-based artist and illustrator Anja Venter, better known as Nanna Venter, started creating her bright and bold artworks to “pay rent” while she finishes up her PhD.

Apart from the pieces she draws for her online store, she also does a drawing a day on Instagram – and it’s getting a lot of attention.

We caught up with her to find out more about her aesthetic, her characters and what we can expect next.

1. You’re currently well into the process of completing a drawing a day on Instagram. How do you decide what to draw on a daily basis? And what do you do with all the drawings once you’re finished?

Initially I had a number of thematic series planned. But now, I’m usually in a panic and just draw whatever flows naturally. I’ve become very good at automatic drawing in pencil, which usually involves drawing out a circle and a square and seeing what emerges, then inking the final product. Drawing is typically my relaxation time, so I try to not make it too stressful. Otherwise I’m influenced by current events, pop culture and also take the odd commission. As for what I do with the drawings – initially I thought I would have a big exhibition in 2017, but it’s a logistical nightmare to exhibit 300-odd drawings… so I’ll probably curate a selection to exhibit and sell the ones I’m not too attached to on my webstore.

2. Your aesthetic is instantly recognisable. Did this come naturally or did it take some time to find your groove?

My aesthetic is a product of consistently drawing and seeing what sticks. Like most kids growing up in the late nineties and early 2000s, my initial drawings were very manga influenced. Then I discovered Craig Thompson’s emotive brushpen drawings, shamelessly copied aspects of Merwe Marchand Le Roux, Anton Kannemeyer, Willem Samuel and Jaime Hernandez’s work, and here I am now – influenced by an emerging global community of femme artists on the internet. My groove is a remix.

3. Your Mutiny drawings depict colourful futuristic imagery with a focus on strong, powerful women. How would you describe the women you illustrate?

I’m really drawn (excuse the pun) to the weirdo trope, the kid who might feel like they’re a space alien, but have confidence in their own difference. I often think I’d really like to be friends with the people I draw: they’re sassy but kind, alternative but tolerant, and I love imagining their backstories.

4. How do you choose who to feature in your Best Buds series?

I made a really long list that I used to take to parties and events and ask people to try name famous best friends that weren’t already on the list, and I would add them. The list turned into a weird conversation starter for debates on representation. Fun fact: through this very scientific poll I can conclude that the vast majority of famous best buds are white men, and women of colour duos are super rare. By the end, it was a very intimidating and long list, so I just started working through it depending on what I felt like drawing that day. Unfortunately the best buds are far too time intensive for my current schedule, so I might pick up on them again next year.

5. You’re in the middle of finishing up your PhD. Do you have any exciting projects coming up despite being so busy already?

For now I’m wearing blinkers and just running toward the PhD finish line! But future projects include setting up a community creative studio, designing cool shower curtains (‘cause they’re impossible to find!), manufacturing clothing and patches, making games, more daily drawings and writing fiction.

View more of Nanna’s work at nannaventer.co.za and visit her online store at nanna-venter-artifacts.myshopify.com.

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Local artist Paul Senyol’s new exhibition Inhabitant has just opened at Salon Ninety One gallery in Cape Town.

In this clip, watch as Paul prepares for the solo in his Woodstock studio, working on his well-known abstract works that feature a calming mix of pastels and brights.

Paul Senyol – Dalton

The works featured in the exhibition, which you also get a sneak peek of in this video, are inspired by Paul’s daily sketches.

The exhibition runs until 22 October 2016 at Salon Ninety One, 91 Kloof Street, Cape Town. View more work at senyol.blogspot.co.za or at salon91.co.za.

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We chat to Cape Town photographer Caroline Mackintosh about her new multifaceted exhibition, curated by Candice Ježek and featuring a sound collaboration with Mark Davis.

How did you get involved in photography?

My family has always been very into their wildlife, so from a young age I would travel with them to the likes of Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. It was only natural for me to pick up my dad’s camera and start taking pictures of our expeditions. From then on, my love for photography has only grown and expanded, mainly towards taking pictures of people and landscapes and creating moments that emanate feelings of wonder, beauty and nostalgia. I see my work as an extension of myself and the way I live my life, always in the moment…

The show does not only consist of photography though. In the last year, I have found myself far more drawn to film and sound, which is the last element of the series.

Describe your work in 4 words.

Transportive, uninhibited, wondrous, alive.

What is the concept behind IN THE MURMUR?

A murmur is a faint vibration, an unusual sound our hearts make. It’s the ever-flowing stream, it’s something we don’t quite always acknowledge, but we feel it’s there.

There are these ‘other worldly’ moments we experience, where we feel we are part of something more, something magical and mysterious. These moments are not always recognisable, but our hearts understand because after we experience them, we are changed and renewed. I refer to these critical transitional instances as murmurs.

So, for me IN THE MURMUR represents a feeling, as well as a place, both fleeting and wondrous. I wanted to create a place that hosts these feelings, an alternative reality that transports you, liberates you and alters the reality you once knew, the space that represents a suspended reality you enter into, like being underwater. You are enveloped in silence and sound, motion and stillness.

How did you come up with the title for your exhibition?

Being IN THE MURMUR can be many things. It can be that special moment where you feel release and feel universally connected. It’s wonder and vibration. It’s that place where you feel, but it can also refer to the actual submerged place of sight and sound I’ve created. This ethereal bubble-like space that feels like suspended reality. Either way, it’s transportive. 

Most of your subjects are your friends. What process do you follow for your shoots?

It began as just friends, but after time I also started to notice how the trips to these magical places affected the girls who took part in the series. The friends that joined me would contact me after, saying that they felt such a release and a new sense of freedom within themselves, which eventually led to women other than my close friends wanting to join in. I feel now like we all became closer in some way after this experience, like a bond was formed.

What draws you to the human form?

I was drawn to the feminine figure as I feel it has such a pure organic feel to it, the feminine that is nature. There is an alluring beauty and mystery to these bodies suspended in motion, an almost fluttering stillness. Their bodies move and are entwined in a moment of transition, almost like a murmuration.

Any exciting plans for the near future?

I really loved making the film and being a part of the soundtrack that Mark Davis produced. These are both new creative avenues I want to explore more and see where they take me.

See more of Caroline’s work at lockofgold.tumblr.com. IN THE MURMUR is now on at the Woodstock Exchange until 31 October 2015.

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Cape Town-based artist Kirsten Beets combines her love of the Mother City with her passion for nature in her latest series of works for Everyday Eden. We chatted to her to find out what inspired this beautiful collection.

How has Cape Town inspired your work for Everyday Eden?

I’ve lived in Cape Town my whole life so I am sometimes guilty of taking it for granted, but after the terrible fires that happened earlier this year I felt incredibly precious about my city and I wanted to reflect some of its beautiful spaces. I’m always looking for the green wherever I go, so it was natural to focus on the in-between and less well-known green spaces that still hold a lot of beauty.

Which piece did you most enjoy creating for this exhibition, and why?

It has been interesting to see how foliage and greenery have been a way that I can experiment with abstraction. I still enjoy rendering things perfectly and in tiny detail but it was a lot of fun for me to be able to play with the paint in a more abstract way and still have structured elements within the painting that contained the abstract.

For example, I made a painting of an interior of a greenhouse called Eden (see gallery above). The plant elements are painted with expressive brush strokes. I wanted to convey a sense of the vibrant, growing, energetic nature that would contrast with the structured interior elements of the greenhouse. Throughout the exhibition there is a push/pull dynamic between tight detail and free brush strokes, culminating in a piece called Bloom (see gallery above), which is a circle of flowers painted with loose brushstrokes and layered paint to convey a joyful sense of lush with verdant foliage.

What do you love most about painting?

I love the ability to create scenarios that don’t necessarily exist in real life – I can let my imagination roam free. I also love that it’s a challenge and you are constantly learning and becoming better. The work hours are good too, as I can paint whenever I want to, which is perfect because I am a night owl and wholly unsuited to 9 – 5. Ultimately, I love it because it makes me happy and I am immeasurably grateful to everyone who has supported my art and allowed me to do what I love for a living.

This piece (below) really caught our eye, as it’s quite different to the rest of the collection. Can you please tell us a bit more about this work?

“I’ll Be Late So Don’t Wait Up”

This work is very dear to my heart. It is the nighttime view from my window during my residency in Venice a couple of years ago. I have tried to paint it many times and I feel like this one was finally a success. I found the electric lights in the shop front and the reflections in the paving so beautiful, yet out of place in the ancient city. Nighttime was the only moment the hubbub of tourists marching through our square stopped. Once the sun went down and the shops closed up, a beautiful, overlooked, secret Venice was revealed.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

I am going overseas for a bit of a holiday and then back to work with a couple of group shows, namely Manifesto in November in Joburg and the Salon 91 group show in December.

Kirsten’s solo exhibition runs from 16 September until 10 October 2015 at Salon 91 in Cape Town. To view more of Kirsten’s work, visit kirstenbeets.com.

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Salon 91 in Cape Town is hosting Kirsten Sims’ first solo exhibition, The Middle Of Nowhere, until 18 July 2015. We chatted to this beloved local artist about her latest pieces, distinctive aesthetic and the importance she places on storytelling in her work.

What inspired your new body of work?

This body of work is inspired by the idea of the ‘middle of nowhere’ as a place and a feeling. When I started working on the concept for the show I had just finished my post-grad degree, left my job as an illustration teacher and moved from Stellenbosch to Cape Town. I really felt as if I was in the middle of nowhere, as an artist and as a 28-year-old. I wasn’t sure what would come next, so I decided to use that and create work born from that feeling of vulnerability. I wanted to explore what the middle of nowhere looks and feels like in my work.

Storytelling plays an important part in your pieces. What do love most about this creative process?

Storytelling helps me, and I think the viewer too, to connect to a particular scene. Visually, they aren’t all ‘stories,’ but I think once I add a title there is more of a play between image and text, which definitely helps to create a narrative. I love setting a scene and seeing what will happen next.

Illustrating or painting? And why?

Both. Painting was my medium of choice for this particular show, but I am still an illustrator. I am illustrating ‘texts’ both real and imagined – and I think the fact that my titles are important to me means I still really enjoy the push and pull between image and text.

Describe your aesthetic in a tweet.

The combination of the seemingly ordinary with a curious twist to reveal the whimsy of everyday life.

Tell us a bit about Split Second Stories. Why did you decide to create a zine?

I was experimenting with charcoal and the idea of Split Second Stories for quite a while before I decided to turn it into a zine. I started to play around with the idea of making an image – scanning it in and then changing one detail in the image in order to create a narrative.

Zines are a great way of quickly presenting a body of work without getting too precious about printing/paper stock/publishing.

Other than your current solo exhibition at Salon 91, do you have any exciting projects coming up?

Yes! I have finished my first children’s book called Henry Goes Home about a polar bear who runs away from the circus. It will be published in Portugal at the beginning of 2016.

To keep up to date with what Kirsten is up to, visit kirstensims.blogspot.com.

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