Description
‘Shelter in Place’ by Kaitlin Beckett
Artist: Kaitlin Beckett
Title: ‘Shelter in Place’
Medium: Acrylic, gouache, watercolour and pastel on paper
Dimensions: 13″ x 11″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2020
About the Artwork:
“I was reading about a type of heron that wades in shallow water, extending its wings out and around its body to create a kind of umbrella under which the tiny fish will gather thinking they’ve found some kind of shelter. As well as tricking the fish to get closer, the umbrella cuts out the glare from the sun and makes them easier for the bird to catch. This piece is about thinking you are in a safe place, but you’ve been manoeuvred there deliberately for someone to take advantage of you.” – Kaitlin Beckett
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Kaitlin Beckett is a painter, illustrator and sculptor working in Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. Her mixed media works on paper, canvas and assemblage sculptures are a curious bestiary of creatures from the sea, air, land and subconscious; expressing a surreal narrative rich in symbolism, humour and biological paradox.
Influenced by quirks of the natural world, mythology and dreams, her art illustrates dystopian post-apocalyptic scenes in which slightly humanoid characters adapt, hybridise and evolve in awkward and impractical ways. Emphasis is placed on texture, line and detail by layering acrylics, gouache, pencils and pastel. Kaitlin also incorporates random splatters, stencils and airbrushing, alongside traditional painting and drawing techniques. She has held several solo exhibitions in Melbourne; exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, America, England, Japan, and Canada; and her works have been collected throughout the world.
(Artist Statement)
Since childhood I have had a love for the fantastic and the imaginary – I enjoy depicting the real and unreal together, harmony and conundrum, a juxtaposition of the unusual with the everyday. My characters invoke a sense of pathos or disquieting whimsy, and I like to encourage viewers to invent their own narratives.