Micol Kates: Artist Statement

Micol Kates

Micol Kates is a visual artist, photographer, and writer whose visual art and photography has appeared in both solo and group shows in Toronto, in online galleries, and at the Louvre, Paris (in digital form). A Canadian from Toronto, Micol completed her B.A. (Hon) at York University. Micol is currently working toward a M.A. in Integrated Studies, where her final project will examine the emerging field of vegan ethics. Her website is: http://micol-kates.wix.com/lanscape-photography.

Interdisciplinary studies draws on the work of many different disciplines in order to more deeply understand, fundamentally, how a system works. To that end, my work as an artist engages in interdisciplinarity by exploring issues from a feminist, activist, and a Deep Ecology perspective.

I am primarily interested in natural landscapes — such as mountains, trees, bodies of water, the sky, and the beings we get to share the earth with. One of my passions, and a constant subject for me is the sky. I love to photograph and paint the sky when it’s moody, overcast and grey, or sultry, and filled with colour. I photograph landscapes the way I would also like to paint them, filled with emotion. I like trying to capture the feeling that a natural landscape subject, such as a mountain, a body of water, or a stunning sunset evokes, in contrast to only capturing that subject, but not the feeling of it. Every once in a while, I am inclined to photograph a human-made subject if it beautifully lends itself to the natural landscape around it.

I am very inspired by the majestic and deft beauty of Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings, Ansel Adams’ stunning and expansive landscape vistas, and Henry Weston’s famous photographs of peppers because of his masterful use of light and the way his images seem to capture more than what you think you see. I want people, when they look at my works, to feel the majesty, the expansiveness, the solitude, and the energy of the earth — the way I see and feel it.

Paradise

size: N/A, date: 2014

Landscape Triptych part 1

size: 20” x 24”, date: 2015

Landscape Triptych part 3

size: 20” x 24”, date: 2015

Vertical Up Close

size: 11” x 14”, date: 2014

Red Cedar

size: N/A, date: 2014