Portfolio > Drawings

The drawings, Grooming, Lift, Searching For The Whites, and The Right Measure are about the scrutiny I place upon myself daily, in the mirror, often as part of my regular grooming rituals. I set out to create these artworks as a way to make sense of my experience of aging: confronting the gritty reality that my body is changing, reassessing how I relate to my aging features. Through the process of creating these drawings, the act of self-scrutiny was slowed. I was able to step outside the ubiquitous experience of snapshot selfies and glamour culture that often pressures how I measure my own beauty and self-worth, to see myself through my own creative lens. I hope by sharing these intimate moments that I am connecting to countless other women who experience similar moments, or make similar gestures in the mirror.

Charcoal drawing of woman searching for the hairs that have gone white by Kelly Jane Smith-Fatten
Searching For The Whites
Charcoal on Paper
14x17 in.
2019