Truth be known, first time I met Kiya I was a touch scared. She seemed so brisk + efficient + quite clearly knew the art world better than I did. Mix in a little professional awe (such powerful artwork) I got the jitters. Wow, I thought, this woman is one serious player.
How wrong I was. Oh, I got the serious player bit right, but scary? So, so wrong. She is, I know now, one of the softest sweethearts in town. My kids get birthday gifts, she treats animals with the kind of respect I’d be happy to receive, she feels just as deeply as the next (maybe even more). Hell, I could call her anytime day or night and she’d be there, selflessly helping out. I can count those kind of mates on one hand.
She does admit, she knows she’s sometimes taken the wrong way. My sense is she also gets that her briskness (if there ever really is any) is quite simply a protection mechanism. It’s how she guards herself against a world that hasn’t always dealt a desirable hand.
Perhaps Kiya is a perfect example of alchemy at work. She takes the cards she holds and turns them into heart stopping art.
Do I need to spell it out? The sweep of the curve. The energy of the endless circle. Asking us to be bigger than the sum of our parts. Asking us to feel to our bones energy that connects us to nature. Reminding us that beauty is everywhere.
I’ve had three exhibitions with Kiya (counting my blessing!!). And every time I’ve envied the crisp clarity of her work. Envied in a good way. It’s gently nudged me to strive for deeper simplicity. More energy. Less demand. Less chaos. More harmony. If I could achieve just a fraction of that kind of beauty in my work. Well, that’d be me, thanks.
If there’s every been an artist that I want to keep making art it’s Kiya Nancarrow. Not because her work is better than others (which is only ever opinion, right?), or because of all the people that would miss out if she gave up (of which there would be plenty), but because there are few artists whose work captures a sense of transcendence. Her’s reminds me there is so much more to being human than our bodies, minds and emotions. In my book, the world needs that kind of work.
Kiya, you are making the world a better place. Thanks don’t even begin….
If you are intrigued to know more, Kiya has a website with all details + she is part of the Space Gallery in Oneroa, Waiheke Island, NZ.
Credit to Michelle Hepburn Photography for the AMAZING photos.
