Anastasia Kimmett

I create scenes and natural objects that intrigue the viewer’s eye, as well as their curiosity and imagination. They persuade the viewer to move in close, slow down and appreciate the tiny building blocks, and the ‘moment to moment’, otherwise lost in the ‘big picture’. Valuing resourcefulness and unconventional techniques, I am driven to experiment; to push and blend method and media, abstraction and design. Creative trials produce a growing variety of directions and aesthetics that I move around in. The results are ever-changing, but the foundational process remains grounded, as it does in nature: create, destroy, create.

Here, I’ve drawn a line back through my creative developments and the techniques that I use.

I began with landscapes. After creating a series of abstract, mixed media originals on paper, I cut them into vertical bands; the original compositions are destroyed and the substrate becomes the medium. With this new medium I have the freedom to merge, edit, design and fuse a new original to work upon. The final piece is mounted to Birch panel. It is abstract, but conversely cohesive, designed, structured, and rhythmic. The vertical seams play with the eye and inspire the imagination to see depth and changing dynamics. What is seen when standing back will vary from person to person, and from moment to moment. However, when one looks closer at any of my works, 'the big picture’ will reveal itself for what it truly is: a collection of tiny, unique, building blocks of abstraction.

Intrigued by the details revealed in this process, I was driven to take this technique a step further, separating the papers not only vertically but horizontally. This proved to be a successful method for exposing the concealed and intricate details hidden within natural objects like butterflies, feathers and flowers. These objects are built using an original that is dissected into ‘bricks’ that are shifted, built back and once again detailed.

My studies in Fashion, with a focus on Haute Couture construction, as well as my experience as a Window Display Artist, impressed upon me a great appreciation for design and hand-finished detailing. Gaining knowledge of the destructive and wasteful nature of the ‘Fast Fashion’ industry, I was prompted to notice the waste that I was creating with my designs. In my ‘Repurposed Nature’ pieces, I re-explore my 10 year, and continued, accumulation of abandoned projects. Abstract markings on paper once intended as ocean, rock, and cloud, now carved out, sanded, shredded, distressed, oxidized, dyed, detailed and completely transformed into building materials for trees and bird’s nests. Manipulating some shapes by hand, all pieces are fastened into place, layered and sealed and lay solid, textured and sculptural upon the panel.

Motivated by a childhood memory of layering wax and dye to make Ukrainian Easter eggs, my latest exploration ‘Manual Exposure’ uses a process of masking and layering colour depths to create scenes. The images rely on strong highlights and shadows to create their shapes, similar to black and white photographs on paper. For these, I have referenced my own memories, caught in digital format, and ‘develop’ them manually onto paper. These works, have vertical and horizontal seams and like paper photographs, wear signs of age and time; torn corners, rips, cracks and creases. Living and working in the West End of Vancouver, my digital captures of nature often feature, or hint at, the presence of an urban backdrop. The designs of Man; streets, buildings, signs, and cars juxtaposed against the designs of Nature.

My techniques and applications include, but are not limited to, those used in fashion design, weaving, drafting, graphic design, film editing, wood burning and carpentry.

I grew up in Carp, Ontario and after having lived in Toronto, Ottawa and Los Angeles, I am based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

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60 X 24 in. - $9,400 CAD
WINTER TREE
60 X 30 in. - $15,000 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'GARDEN PARTY' at Canada House Gallery
60 x 40 in. - $20,200 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'SHORT CUT THROUGH THE GARDENS 2' at Canada House Gallery
48 X 36 in. - $14,500 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'BLOSSOMS AND BRICKS' at Canada House Gallery
60 X 44 in. - $22,200 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'A WALK HOME IN SEPTEMBER' at Canada House Gallery
36 X 48 in. - $14,500 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'A WALK HOME IN APRIL' at Canada House Gallery
27 X 27 in. - $5,350 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN SAGE' at Canada House Gallery
40 X 30 X 1.5 in. - $7,500 CAD
PEACEFUL
27 X 58 in. - $9,400 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'BIRCH THROUGH BANKS' at Canada House Gallery
60 X 30 in. - $11,900 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'TELEPHONE PINES' available at Canada House Gallery - Banff, Alberta
48 X 24 in. - $9,700 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'COAST' available at Canada House Gallery - Banff, Alberta
40 X 60 in. - $20,500 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'WEST COAST' available at Canada House Gallery - Banff, Alberta
26 X 60 in. - $9,200 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'LASCAUX CAVES' available at Canada House Gallery - Banff, Alberta
Sold
24 X 48 in. - $7,000 CAD
Anastasia Kimmett artwork 'FOOTHILL AND FOREST' available at Canada House Gallery - Banff, Alberta
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