Featured Artist - Aug 2013  Kathleen Kastles

Wailuku, HI
Website:www.kathleenkastles.com
Email: drkastles@hotmail.com

The human form is endlessly interesting to me.  I am fascinated by the way life experiences etch themselves on our faces, how genetics determines one's basic body, but life's events and choices are reflected the body as it ages.  Old or young, disabled or fit, these are the vehicles that transport us through life's journey.  Our personalities, thoughts and interactions also leave their marks upon us, albeit less visible to others. 

All of us inhabit an intently personal world, connected in unique ways to our environment, cultures and communities.  My eyes are tuned to the small, unguarded moments that reveal something of the human condition, and that is what I choose to portray in my quilts.  Some of the scenes actually occurred; others are imagined.  I intend them to suggest the similarities and differences among people, to trigger a memory, a sense of recognition, or tell a story.

My quilts have photographic elements, yet they are not photographs.  They are derived from figure studies, sketches and photos, painted with acrylic ink upon a single length of cotton.  I then machine quilt the artwork, finishing it with a borderless facing.

Please click images for a larger view

Growing, Growing Gone	The Blue Dupatta