I look back over my work of the last twenty years and wonder if an outside eye might view this collection of objects as the work of five or six artists rather than one. They might ask themselves, what connects these separate bodies of work? Is this the work of a painter? A sculptor?  A photographer?  Yet when I look, I see a very linear progression.  An exploration of a limited number of themes or ideas examining how we are viewed by others in contrast to how we view ourselves. As my personal experience of this has changed over the years, so have the visual manifestations.  From earlier thoughts about sexual objectification to more current ideas about fading sexuality and beauty, portrayed in clay vessels and porcelain busts, combinations of painting and clay and most recently direct object scans printed on aluminum.  Throughout, there are recurring images of flowers and vegetation as metaphors for sexuality; of classical and decorative objects serving as signifiers of beauty; of hands holding on to precious or fragile objects, holding on or moving through time.

So am I a painter, a ceramicist, or photographer?  I am an artist on a journey.   Sometimes there is a point where I become aware that I have a choice to continue down the familiar road, or take a detour, to change medium. I often find that I am searching for this turn. Perhaps the new road will take me through very different terrain. It may be a smooth scenic route or be rough and bumpy. Either way, the mere newness of a material offers
challenges that excite and propel me and fuel my ideas.  From this new road I might find another, which leads me back where I have been or in a new direction. Whatever route I take, I am here continually re-examining the accumulated miles of experiences and ideas. A continuum.

Kate Blacklock, May 2009