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Kathryn Harris, is from Neath in South Wales, she did foundation studies at Swansea Metropolitan University prior to Fine Art at De Montfort University, where she has recently graduated and now has her sights firmly set on developing her work as an artist.
Throughout the 3 year degree she examined aspects of childhood and memory, exploring darkroom techniques and photograms along with projections, using drawing and photography to back up her practice.
Kathryn’s final work used hair as the main element, exploring her ideas surrounding memory with a broad look at such things as fairytales, which influence us from childhood. She used 'lo-fi' as a means to create her work, employing old technology and artistic techniques, and describes her inspiration as:
“The use of hair is something which has been explored due to a want of both beauty and attraction teamed with repulsion and fear within the work, bearing resemblance to the ideas behind the work of Mona Hatoum. Hair is steeped in social, historical and symbolic resonance. Here, the hair is representing a part of something that has gone, a physical memorial to the person to which it once belonged. The Victorians used hair to remember their loved ones; locks were treasured within jewellery, or woven into pictures. ‘Hair Art’ was born out of people in mourning wanting a keepsake of their loved one; it was not seen as grotesque or macabre as it would be viewed as today. It is this Victorian sensibility of wanting to hold onto something from the past through hair which interests me, teamed with a fascination with fairytales, many of which being popularised in this era, with obvious links to Rapunzel along with a more general look at the use of fairytales to teach children morals and their use of symbolism; objects, colours, characters are used for specific reasons. Their resulting impact on our memories can often shape the way we perceive the world”.
She was awarded the Clephan Scholarship in her final year of study and a triptych of works from the final degree show was selected to be kept by the fine art faculty. See more of her work on http://www.artgrad.net/
Kathryn is currently organising an exhibition in London with a group of fellow DMU graduates to take place from the 19th-29th August – watch this space for further details about the show!
Throughout the 3 year degree she examined aspects of childhood and memory, exploring darkroom techniques and photograms along with projections, using drawing and photography to back up her practice.
Kathryn’s final work used hair as the main element, exploring her ideas surrounding memory with a broad look at such things as fairytales, which influence us from childhood. She used 'lo-fi' as a means to create her work, employing old technology and artistic techniques, and describes her inspiration as:
“The use of hair is something which has been explored due to a want of both beauty and attraction teamed with repulsion and fear within the work, bearing resemblance to the ideas behind the work of Mona Hatoum. Hair is steeped in social, historical and symbolic resonance. Here, the hair is representing a part of something that has gone, a physical memorial to the person to which it once belonged. The Victorians used hair to remember their loved ones; locks were treasured within jewellery, or woven into pictures. ‘Hair Art’ was born out of people in mourning wanting a keepsake of their loved one; it was not seen as grotesque or macabre as it would be viewed as today. It is this Victorian sensibility of wanting to hold onto something from the past through hair which interests me, teamed with a fascination with fairytales, many of which being popularised in this era, with obvious links to Rapunzel along with a more general look at the use of fairytales to teach children morals and their use of symbolism; objects, colours, characters are used for specific reasons. Their resulting impact on our memories can often shape the way we perceive the world”.
She was awarded the Clephan Scholarship in her final year of study and a triptych of works from the final degree show was selected to be kept by the fine art faculty. See more of her work on http://www.artgrad.net/
Kathryn is currently organising an exhibition in London with a group of fellow DMU graduates to take place from the 19th-29th August – watch this space for further details about the show!
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