Debra Kayes

Sticky Situation
mixed media on canvas

I make paintings, mixed media books and installations that deal with topics exploring ideas of masculinity, femininity, sexuality, androgyny, and bodies. Simultaneously, I play with the idea of pattern, like the pattern of fabric or one simple repetition, as a metaphor for patterns in one’s life. I relate pattern in its physical form to the pattern that occurs from everyday living, as an autobiography. I have been exploring this idea through large and small-scale oil paintings and mixed media works. Additionally, I create artistic journals to chart patterns in my own daily life. These patterns, including menstrual cycles and the seasons, have a profound effect on me. The journals serve as effective ways to document emotions and to discover cycles through the translation of life patterns through formal patterns.

© Debra Kayes