KYLIE RUSZCZYNSKI
SOLAR TETES
The Solar Tetes series was born from a reaction to seeing a group of elderly women out one night, all of them wearing the same face. Taut cheeks, feline eyes, painted on brows and hugely enlarged lips. I wondered then about the future of femininity. Would we all be expected to age so ‘plastically’?
By subjecting myself to the process of self-portraiture and using the surrealist technique of solarization and photograms, I sought to create hybrid or android like faces. Through the solarisation process the metal of the photogrammed objects become one with the flesh. This fusion of mechanical clock components to the skin also suggests the inexorable march of time. The inverted darkness of these mirrored forms reflect the narcissistic quest of many to upend the inevitability of their own mortality. In reconstituting the self, the myth of beauty is challenged and configured with renewed meaning.
BIOGRAPHY
Kylie Ruszczynski is an Australian artist living and working in Paris. Each day Kylie makes a photograph of herself and her calendar, a ritual that started on June 1st, 1999. This daily act is the grounding of many of her works, most of which use hand-made processes and traditional photographic techniques. Darkroom printing has been particularly relevant to Kylie’s practice as a means of making unique artworks. The passing of time and the creation of new memories are ongoing themes of importance.
Kylie has exhibited in Sydney, Istanbul, London, Canberra and Paris. Her work has been featured in several publications and is held in numerous private collections. She is currently working on a book of photogramic images due for release in 2010. More of Kylie’s photography can be found at the website of Rex Livingston Art Dealer.