Katie Barnsley Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
I investigate humanity through diverse media, exploring my relationship with my body. I express my experience of womanhood, inviting audiences to consider questions relevant to themselves. My work relates to the ‘body positivity movement’, which challenges present-day beauty standards and societal constructs.
Katie Barnsley uses the female form and body language to capture emotion and expression in paint. The meaning of her work is often illusive as she wants each viewer to project their own experiences and perspective onto it. In this way, her work can be emotional and challenging. She usually depicts woman in her art, showing the ‘female gaze’ and acting in contrast to the historically painted ‘male gaze’ by male artists.
Her craft is often a process of working on an idea in multiple materials, figuring out techniques and ideas as she goes before realising a final artwork. In this way, works in progress are often crafted along the way taking winding tangents in the creative process. Katie is a yoga instructor and weaves asanas (yogic postures) meditative philosophy, and expressive movements into her arts practice, she is often inspired by the strength of the female mind and body.
