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 measuring her waist in the mirror by Kelly Jane Smith-Fatten
The Right Measure
Charcoal on Paper
14x17 in.
2019