Artist Statement: Kristen N. Mabie

Kristen N. Mabie

            My art is my way to express how I see the world. When I can’t express myself through language, I turn to art. Though I love focusing on the little details of a piece, it is the larger message behind those details that helps my process what I observe and learn in everyday life. I make art because I want to show how I see the world. Art is my way to find the words I can’t quite find and make sense of the thoughts I can’t quite make sense of.

            I draw my inspiration from everyday observations and an acute attention to detail. Being very sentimental and optimistic, I try to see everything as being beautiful. However, as I have worked to convey through the Snake Lady series, I am more complex, both as a person and an artist than just “sunshiny.”

            My art focuses on two-dimensional images, most often drawings, or lately, mixed media. When I see something captivating my first reaction is always “how could I draw that?” Drawing has always been the most accessible way for me to act on inspiration and try to understand why shadows, reflections, shapes, colors and lines create the emotion and image that they do. Line is my element of choice. By having more than one image present in any one piece, I feel like the meaning of the piece is more profound and has more of a narrative.

The series, “The Snake Lady,” is rooted in personal conviction that there is more to me, and most people, than appearance may suggest. As the project continued, the message, the snake, and the woman began to evolve. The work began to flow more naturally, and I was merely telling a story rather than forcing an idea to work. In my mind, the lady and snake had become complex characters with an unfolding narrative that stretched beyond my four pieces. The narrative told through the lady, modeled after myself, and the snake is one I am very invested in. Though I don’t plan to continue this subject matter in my next piece, The Snake Lady series has been one of the most profound messages and effortless processes to date.