K M Copham
My work has to do with stories, characters and individuals, how we interact with each other, what we do, how we see ourselves. My current project captures individual sitters on 10" square boards, which are later installed in a tiled grid. Although each person has a story and I attempt to capture their character rather than a realistic rendition, the effect of the whole installation is to depersonalize the individual. Variations of the exhibit, Your Face Here, have been exhibited in Tribeca, NY, St. Paul, MN and Guadalajara Mexico.
The 2007 Exhibit, The UnNatural World, was an installation of ceramic and oil works coupled with live performance, which reflected the show’s theme of metaphysical anxiety in the physical modern world. The abstract works are belligerent expressions of physicality- the sensual, sexual, violent, exuberant, overwhelming, painful, inexplicable nature of living as a sentient (aware) being trapped briefly in a physical body. During gallery hours Copham performed in and interacted with the space. Copham made a video to explain her absence during one performance weekend: http://www.youtube.com/v
In 2004 - 2005, I painted nude male artists, collaborating with each man to create a work that represented their work and who they are. Instead of approaching each artist as an object in the painting, I approached them as a subject and gave them a voice. This body of work speaks to our preconceptions about male nudity as a primarily homoerotic form and also challenges the history of gender in nude artwork, i.e. the historical tradition of male artists painting nude women.