Kimberly Trowbridge says her work explores the development of identity as an image. And she does, in spades -- Trowbridge continually describes her work as being inseparable from the stories she creates or the life she lives. If only we could all be so eloquent in our visual description. I'm truly saddened my interviews wrapped up at such a chaotic time in preparation for the Festival, and I didn't get the chance to talk with Ms. Trowbridge in greater detail on her work. However, I'd like to offer up this quote from her site; words which I can use only in poor substitute of her voice:
Vessels
Vessels journey out at sea. Waters peopled
With people like you and me.
a vessel of pleasure;
a vessel of grief.
Over the past couple of years I have been exploring the figure as a vessel of sexual interaction, coupled with nautical imagery and meaning: a boat, the sea, survival, journey.
For me, the process of painting is a narrative unfolding; the development of the story is the act of painting. These paintings come out of the need for the figures to fight for their survival out at sea. For a pink line to interact with a blue shape. The journey:
the trying to get somewhere, get around, get inside of, get through.
The figures are at once playful, and soon at great risk. They are containers and contained. They help and hurt each other. They are up against great forces beyond their control.
My all-too-brief conversation with Kimberly follows. Enjoy.
Whether or not it's conscious, people seem to expect a certain thing when they think of "erotic art". What was the greatest challenge or stereotype for you to overcome in making an erotic piece in your own voice?
I don’t think I ever set-out to make an ‘erotic’ work. The act of working on a painting is in a certain way a very erotic act. The arc of it, the intimacy, the vulnerability. It seems to follow, for me, that the subjects within the painting would also depict that.
How did you arrive at the work you'll be showing in the Festival? Where is it you're taking us/what story are you telling (the viewer)?
Interplay is a playful celebration of intercourse. It is shown in first-person, up close, during the act. It depicts the decision-making, the movement from here-to-here: a hand a nipple a mouth.
Coupling is told in third-person, witnessing but invited to enter the space through the center and participate. Both works are oil paintings with strong roots in figuration and abstraction.
What do you most look forward to in this year's Seattle Erotic Art Festival?
The works.
Give us one thing you think is unexpectedly sexy:
Rain (or is that expected?)
Not at all, Kim, and thanks for spending the time to talk with me!
Tonight is the final evening, the costume gala, the smashing crescendo. Come for the art, but stay for the spectacle! For tickets and information, please visit SeattleErotic.Org.
Kimberly Trowbridge, Coupling 2009 oil on canvas image courtesy of the artist
Kimberly Trowbridge, Lovers 2006 mixed media collage image courtesy of the artist
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