Seeing Double

Audrey Kawasaki’s work is undoubtedly intriguing, beautiful and well worth googling.  I love how she paints on wood panels.  Not only because you see the grain, which adds its own tone and texture, but because I adore the kind of see-through look in general.  It’s simple in terms of paint, but so wonderfully expressive in line and form.  While pretty much all her work is fascinating, I threw together a few of her images which focus on the idea of duality.

These pieces remind me of the astrological sign Gemini, which is represented by the twins, and the ones where she has joined the hair of the figures makes me think about Siamese twins.

I’ve read that her work is often about representing contradiction, but I don’t really see it so much in these pieces.  The doubling of figures adds some kind of mystique and poignancy, but doesn’t entirely explore the supposed contradictory or dual nature of women i.e. the virgin / vamp notion.  But I guess this is what I like about it – that it isn’t an obvious exploration of that idea.  While these pieces certainly made me think about duality, I like that Kawasaki hasn’t succumbed to obvious portrayals of this and suggests a deeper, more complex nature of the feminine.