Kirstin Childs

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Bio

My work explores the inherent beauty that arises from the passage of time, both the natural and tragic dissolution found in nature and the human body, and the impermanence of all living things. In my early 20’s my father was dying of cancer and I was seeing this life-death- transformation happen rapidly in his body in a short period of time. It was the same transformation seen in leaves and flowers as they go through their life cycle. The internal structure of his body became more visible through his skin and the light within faded. The weight of his body remained while something intangible was set free. I questioned how something could grow internally without one knowing it leaving a desire in me to make visible, like an xray, what is otherwise hidden and to try to stay connected to the part of him that was set free. I have a degree in Industrial Design and a minor in Sculpture so I fluctuate between creating work that is a cross between art and functional objects. Over the years I designed and developed a flexible fabric that I call ‘lightskins’ and use it to create my lighting, sculpture, and video installations. I consider my material to be a kind of skin that holds the memory of a transformation that has taken place and tells a story when illuminated from within. Currently I am working with light and shadow and how it can affect our experience in relationship to time.

Contact

kirstinchilds@gmail.com
@kirstinchilds
Paris, France

Education

1996, Rhode Island School of Design, BID
1993, Simmons College, BA.

Exhibitions

2022, Liminal, Boulder Creative Colelctive, Boulder, CO.
2006, Osmosis, Installation, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
2004, Osmosis, Video Art, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Caracas Venezuela.
2001, Osmosis V Salon Pirelli, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela.
2001, Vestige Series Invitational Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Connemara Conservancy, Dallas, Texas.
2001, Sleeping Beauty, Studio 4 West Gallery, Piedmont, NY.
1999, RISD Traveling Alumni Exhibit in Textile Design, Providence, RI.
1999, Invitational Design Show, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI.