Søren's face mask. Kieron and Jasna made the mold,
and then we had a bronze done from the mold.
Thank you to Clara Hali for her tremendous work on the bronze.
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Work of and about our children.
A brief history: In 1985, I earned a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute. During my final year of study, I auditioned for and was accepted into the prominent Kansas City modern dance company; The Susan Warden Dancers. I then danced and performed for 5 1/2 years in the company. I also choreographed and taught modern dance and improvisation to ballet students, and improvisation for the Alvin Ailey summer school. I supplimented my income by painting portraits on commission.
In 1990, I moved to New York City to pursue dance, working and performing with many independent contemporary choreographers and also joined a japanese court dancing company called Jo Ha Kyu. In November 1995, I moved to join my husband in Australia, where up until our first pregnancy, I taught modern dance and improvisation, creating solo and group work for the 1996 Canberra Fringe Festival.
Not long after Kae died in 1997, we moved to Sydney. These two events pre-empted my eventual retreat from teaching and dancing. I miss it deeply but because of my high-risk status during pregnancy, I'm unable to commit to dance. To lose touch with the work that I felt defined me, is a grief in and of itself.
Currently, I've returned to my visual art. My focus on this page is our children and our grief as subject matter. The more I work, the more ideas I get. So far, my return is slow. I am taking it one day at a time, just like I do with my grief. I hope a day will come when I can make dances again too. |
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Below, you will find thumbnail sized reproductions of some of my work. Just click on each individual thumbnail to see the larger version of it. To return back to this page, please use your back button.
Aside each thumbnail you will find a short description, and the total size of the larger photos. Some are biggish and might take a minute to download.
Soon to come will be a page displaying my art over the years. Check back for details. |
Final Hour, 38" X 29"in.
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Evenings With Daddy; Newborn Care Centre
42 X 52 cm.
I set up the tripod in the NICU just as the sun was setting on New Years Day, 2001, to capture Kieron reading to Imogen.
* This photo has been selected to hang in 3 exhibitions:
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 200 Breaths
28 X 48 cm.
An oil painting, life-size, of Søren. The title refers to his time on the high-frequency ventilator, where air was puffed into him at 200 exchanges per second. * This painting was hung in the upper gallery of the Festival of Fisher's Ghost Art Award - 2001. |
Small Son, Huge Loss
8in. X 11in.
A small detailed drawing of Kieron holding his son.
* This drawing was selected to hang in the Waverley Art Prize - 2000.
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Study; Kieron and Søren
8in. X 11in.
A small line study of Kieron from life, holding Søren in our hospital room. |
Study; Søren
8in. X 11in.
A small graphite study of Søren from life, after he died. One of the few I did. |
Sweet, Daisy, Dreams
28 X 48cm.
An oil painting, life size, of Søren. |
 Søren; Study 1
8in. X 10in.
This is an ink study of Søren that I have done from a photograph. I did not have time with Søren while he was alive, to spend it drawing.
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 Søren; Study 2
8in. X 10in.
This is another ink study from the same photograph. This is one of the few photographs that we have where we can see him clearly and totally.
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Søren's Casts
These are the casts we made from Søren's hands and feet. Kieron and a good friend from school met an hour before the funeral to do the casting. An alginate was used, which is a type of rapid drying gelatine mold that sets in as little as 30 seconds. We found this product from a company specializing in theatrical make-up and mold making. The delicacy and smallness of Søren's hands and feet made this a very difficult procedure. Once the molds were made, they were filled with plaster and left to set. We also did a few casts of Søren's face, one which was bronzed as seen at the top of the page.
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10 Minute Study; Karin
June 1999
I managed to acquire a few works from students with whom I was working during my pregnancy with Søren. This is a 10 minute study of me at the end of June by a fashion design student, one month before Søren was born. I admired it and he very nicely gave it to me. |
 Imogen; On Tummy
8in. X 10in.
A small conte crayon study of Imogen. Many of my drawings of Imogen were done in a short amount of time as there were quite a few interruptions throughout the day. |
 Imogen; With Her Hand Up
8in. X 10in.
Another longer study. She was a bit restless here, waving her arm above her head and touching her face. Whenever she touched her own face, she seemed to settle down. |
Partial Study; Imogen
8in. X 10in.
A small ink study of Imogen as she was winking at me. I had only a short time before she was suctioned and turned. I cherish the time I had to study her with my pen. |
Imogen; Peeking Out
8in. X 10in.
Another short ink study. Imogen and I had a good time looking at each other. This time allowed a wonderful bonding experience for us. |
 Imogen; with her Eye Mask
8in. X 10in.
A small ink study of Imogen. I had a chunk of uninterrupted time to work on this one. |
Imogen; At Peace
8in. X 10in.
Imogen died 14th March 2001. I did this ink study on the last night we had with her before her funeral. I wanted to draw her with her favourite toy. |
 Small study of Heloise
8in. X 10in.
I really like this small unfinished drawing. The shape of Kieron's hands are understated, framing Heloise's beautiful, simple face. It is good sometimes to leave a work unfinished. |
 Heloise
8in. X 10in.
This small drawing is one that is overworked. It is full of detail, but it is not necessary. The detail makes the drawing heavy. Heloise's face is beautiful though. |
 Heloise; Pen and ink
8in. X 10in.
This is a small drawing of Heloise that I did from life while I was recovering from illness. |
 Heloise from Life
8in. X 10in.
This is a small graphite drawing from life that I did while recovering from illness. |
Dylan; Pencil study
9in. X 12in.
This is a small pencil study for my friend of her child, Dylan. This is the first drawing I have done for another parent. |
Future work to come
