Kirsten Valentine

“Diner” 36”x36” oil on canvas 2018

“The Bath,” 6”x6” oil on wood 2019

Kirsten Valentine is a painter inspired by found photos to explore domestic scenes, though beneath the banality there is something menacing, something sinister. A story is implied but unexplained. These images are fragments— a fragment of a narrative and a fragment of a painting. The paintings are deliberately and glaringly unfinished. Utilizing brushes, rags and knives the artist distorts, obscures, erases and manipulates the image, balancing abstraction and realism while leaving large areas of the unpainted background showing through. The result teeters between beauty and ugliness, both filled with potential and utterly complete.

Instagram: @kirstenvalentine

website: www.kirstenvalentine.com