Inside the world of one
One of Wales’ leading female artists, Christine Kinsey, has written a new book about her life and work – and she hopes it will inspire more women to step into the spotlight, writes Jenny White...
TRUTH, Lies And Alibis, Christine Kinsey’s definitive book on her art, traces the exhibitions she has held over the years and, through these, the development of her work and her mission.
At the heart of this – through her art and also through co-founding Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff more than 50 years ago – lies her commitment to championing women in art.
“My paintings, drawings, film and writing in my book bear witness to how women, historically, have been pictorially misrepresented and how women continue to experience exploitation all over the world,” she says. “My aim is to share my experience in the hope of connecting with other women and creating a way for us all to have our voices heard.”
Kinsey’s own story began in Pontymoile, a suburb of Pontypool, where she spent time playing in a secret world in the archways beneath the nearby viaduct.
“There used to be a train that ran along the valley up to the quarry and back and some of the archways had been closed off,” she recalls. “As children, we used to squeeze into these spaces, which became a world where we could be other people and enact roles.
“In my paintings, these archways and columns are a world inhabited by the group of characters I developed – so that idea of becoming someone else under the arches has very much fed into my work.”
Kinsey’s rich cobalt palette and her enigmatic cast of characters have symbolic significance, linking to the spiritual aspect of her work and to her mission to give greater visibility to women.
“Each of the colours is chosen very carefully because they’re symbolic of the characters I’m working with,” she says. “One thing I’ve always been aware of is that I needed to make invisible thoughts and feelings and the spiritual aspect to our lives visible.
“That psychological journey has been very much part of the way my work has developed. I needed to find colours that would symbolise that journey and I needed to distance myself from myself to be able to take
The result was an arts centre that is still thriving today.
“When I was in Chapter I was very aware that one of the ways to support women producing art in all its forms was to find a way of offering women space and time and so, right from the beginning, we supported a crèche and a nursery school