Kim Triedman
1455 Featured Artist
Kim’s amazing work is featured in 1455’s digital publication Movable Type’s Issue 9 on the Theme of Connection. Her artistry resonates due to the ways the obvious intelligence and humor interacts with history, both cultural and commercial. Also, it has a sociopolitical import that is at once provocative and inspiring. Her pieces, in short, are so remarkable I had enthusiastic backing from our advisory board to approach her about using her art for this year’s festival. We were proud to feature her work during both our virtual SummerFest and our recent StoryFest Live.
The best way to understand an artist is to see, read, and hear them. And so, please enjoy Kim’s artist statement, directly below, check out our interview from this summer, and explore a sampling of her work (and then take a deeper dive via her website).
Artist Statement
Collage is a kind of visual poetry. It seeks coherence in disorder, elegance amidst anarchy. I am a published poet and novelist. I began working in collage as a way to further indulge my fascination with story.
From the start I’ve found it incredible to see how two distinct images – placed in proximity – can create a totally new and unexpected energy. For me it’s exactly like writing poetry. And it’s this energy that delights me. It’s this energy I seek to harness in my collages.
Much of my work focuses on issues of gender expectations and historical perceptions of femininity and sexuality. I’m particularly interested in the notion of nostalgia — how old perceptions collide with current societal realities — and the emotional artifacts women continue to carry as a result.
There is a lot of “fragmenting” in my collages: dissociated arms and legs; eyes peering or assessing or spying, mouth’s stuffed, agape, or blacked out. This is something that has just “happened” in my work: it seems to be where I land. No body is entirely intact. Figures are there and not there are the same time. My imagination tends toward the provocative – the visually arresting pairing or detail. A dapper business executive side-eyes a 16th-century Dutch girl, her left hand nested neatly over her belly. A deconstructed Eve in the garden brandishes a perfect, tiny, silver nipple ring.
My pieces have been shown widely in small and large group shows throughout the northeastern United States and earned numerous juror’s awards and mentions. In 2018 I curated and participated in the show “Waste Not,” which was featured as the cover story for ArtScope Magazine (Nov. 2018). My work can be found at kimtriedman.com and in numerous private collections here and abroad. I am also the author of three poetry collections and a novel.
FEATURED AT STORYFESTLIVE
Kim Triedman is a visual artist working primarily in collage and mixed media. She’s exhibited her work at galleries and museums throughout the northeastern and midwestern United States, including Boston and New York City. Her collage and mixed-media pieces have garnered numerous honors and are in several private collections here and abroad. In addition to being a visual artist, Kim is also a prize-winning poet and novelist, with four published books. She works out of her home studio in Arlington, MA.
Website: kimtriedman.com
Instagram: @kimtriedman
