Lot 296 - Kirsty Harris - Totem

ARTIST INFO

About  

Harris explores nuclear explosions as cultural, historical and iconic symbols in her practice. 
Referencing the scale, beauty and abhorrent nature of the atom bomb she delves into the periphery of the subject, the myths, characters and surrounding evidence.  
She works across a wide range of media from vast oil paintings, tapestries & projections to delicate paintings on glass and ceramics you could hold in your hand.  
She is fascinated by the beauty and awe of the disrupted landscape, the dust, the glow. The violent & repellent force of the explosion. 

Education  

BA/Hons Fine Art - Cass School of Art, London, 2001 

Select Exhibitions/Awards  

SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND TWO MAN SHOWS 
2023 THAT LETHAL CLOUD, Studio KIND, Devon, UK.  
2019 A FOUL AND AWESOME DISPLAY, Vane Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. 
2017 PARADICE LOST (sic), Plymouth Art Weekender, Plymouth School of Creative Arts. 
2016 HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING (1945-2016), CFCCA, Manchester. 
 
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS  
2023 TWO PLUS TWO MAKES FOUR, Auxiliary, Middlesbrough, UK. 
2022 ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXHIBITION 2022, London, UK. 
2022 ONCE UPON AN INSTANT, University of Applied Sciences HTW, Berlin, Germany.  
2022 HORIZON (LANDSCAPE AND BEYOND), Cello Factory, London, UK.  
2021 ABSENT AUTHORS, APT Gallery, London, UK. 
2020 CONTEMPORARY BRITISH PAINTING PRIZE, ASC Gallery, London, UK.  
2019 LOVE& RAGE, Barbican Arts trust, London, UK. 
 
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS 
2022 Artist Residency at Karst Gallery & Studios, Plymouth, UK. 
2019 Contemporary British Painting Prize - Shortlisted. 
 

Statement about AOAP Submitted Artwork    

I wanted to experiment using oil paints on prepared paper, in thin washes, almost like watercolours. The painting depicts a British atmospheric nuclear test, called Totem, which took place at Emu Field in South Australia in October 1953.