To walk through the front door of Susan Kirby’s house is to see an intimate portrait of Kirby herself: every wall is covered with paintings she’s created, small to large, and each one tells a piece of her story. One of these works, a 7’ x 9’ painting titled “Self Portrait,” mixes a variety of personal references, including family, friends, and the home Kirby grew up in. It illustrates, Kirby explains, “several voyages” she has taken during her life including the journey where she realized she wanted to be an artist. From 1972 to 1974 she lived in Paris. One day she found herself walking down Rue Jacob, a street filled with galleries that sold naïve art, work done by self-taught artists. “I was walking through these galleries and enjoying the art and I just knew I could do this. I thought, this is me. I was seeing myself there. It’s changed everything. If I didn’t have my painting, I don’t think I’d be here. It’s my life. It’s like an anchor. It’s given me a sense of purpose,” Kirby says.
In the artwork that’s grounded her, Kirby has explored several recurring motifs. They include Frida Kahlo, the last supper, Adam and Eve, and a menagerie of felines. Kahlo’s image appears in every Last Supper that Kirby has painted and she’s done several series of Frida Kahlo dolls. A series of six will appear in her show opening this month at Patrick Moore Gallery. Kirby expresses strong admiration for the famous Mexican artist. “I connect with the way Frida put her suffering in to her art,” she says. “It’s just beautiful. And she didn’t try to please anybody. I like that. She didn’t paint to please people. She painted to please herself. That’s just the best.”
Kirby is influenced by other parts of Mexican culture, and one of her more recent pieces is a calavera. The skull has mirrored eyes that reflect the viewer, and it’s painted in lively tones. “It took me a long time to decide on those colors but I went hiking a lot when the leaves were turning yellow. The vibrancy of the yellow against the blue sky inspired me,” Kirby says. Glitter and mirrors are materials she enjoys working with, and they were added because she felt the piece needed something that would add interest.
An equally colorful painting that Kirby just completed is a depiction of Adam and Eve. “I think it’s a timeless theme we can all relate to,” she says. For her latest incarnation of the couple, she painted two people she knows. “They do have the tattoos that you see in the painting. In fact they get more tattoos every day. It’s good the painting is done because I couldn’t keep up with how many tattoos they keep getting,” Kirby says with a good-natured laugh.
The Last Supper is another biblical theme that Kirby likes to revisit. As mentioned earlier, Frida Kahlo appears in each one. The other people sitting at the table tend to vary. “They’re fun,” Kirby says of these pieces, “because you can choose different guests, so I usually choose them out of history or I pick people I admire.” She likes to place certain people together, like Coco Chanel and Che Guevara, and imagine the conversation that might be taiing place between them.
Her exploration of religious work recently inspired Kirby to paint her own version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” It depicts a woman wearing a tiara screaming in front of the Salt Lake Temple. “I think it might have been inspired by Romney running for President,” Kirby jokes. “But I hope it doesn’t offend anyone. All my relatives are Mormon and they come into my house and see all my weird stuff. They kind of like it.”
Tigers, cats, and other feline references appear in her work. Sometimes they literally appear as Leopards or the figure in a painting may just be wearing leopard print pants. “I feel a oneness with cats,” Kirby says. “I once dreamt that I was a cat and I felt exactly how a cat feels. It’s just total bliss.” She’ll often paint cats that were once her house pets, including one that she refers to as her Mexican cat.
From portraits of the last supper to her feline companions, Kirby frequently starts painting with a very deliberate idea in mind. Every so often it becomes a more fluid experience. “I was going to do an Alice in Wonderland type thing and then the mushroom, as I was working on it, I just saw it as a dark silhouette of a man. It sort of morphed. That usually doesn’t happen because I have my idea before I paint. But this one changed mid-painting into a silhouette or a witness. It’s kind of a subconscious work,” she says.
While Kirby may explore an eclectic range of themes, she has a distinct style that catches the eye. Her provocative works intrigue and beckon people to take a closer look so they can understand the whole story.
A collection of approximately 30 pieces by Kirby will be on display at Patrick Moore Gallery from December 7–28. An opening reception will be held on Friday, December 7 from 6 to 9 pm. Regular hours are noon until 6 pm. Patrick Moore Gallery is located at 2233 S. 700 E.
Dale Thompson has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College and an Masters degree in communications from Westminster College. Her writing career includes work for a local theatre, journalism in Park City, and freelance contributions for various nonprofit organizations.
Categories: Exhibition Reviews | Visual Arts
