ARTiculAction
Kireilyn Barber (USA) An artist’s statement
Kireilyn Barber was born and raised in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Cal State University, Fullerton and her MFA from Cal State University, Los Angeles, both in Creative Photography. She was the recipient of an Individual Artist's Grant from the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division for projects in 2002 - 2003 as well as in 2005 -2006, and was selected in the spring of 2004 and 2010 to attend Review Santa Fe at CENTER in New Mexico. Her recent solo exhibitions include POST Kamikaze in July 2011 in Los Angeles, and Haus Gallery and the Armory Center for the Arts, both in Pasadena. Kireilyn uses everyday experience and common or mundane subjects from everyday life to work in series or around a system, which can be subject or time-based. She appreciates photography for its ability to immediately record the subject, but also for its capacity to "see" the scene in a different way than human vision does. She enjoys experimenting with random/chance events and systems, controlled tableaus and narratives, and the visually compelling mix of materials and structures that suburban and urban environments provide. In the last few years Ms. Barber has participated in and organized a variety of exhibitions, ranging from site-specific installations to pinhole photographic work. She has organized several exhibitions in the Los Angeles area, including 20 Eyes/10 Cameras, a group photography show at Gallery Figueroa, and the pinhole photographic exhibition Obscura at Angel's Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro. Other recent exhibitions of her work include Present Tense at Photo Center Northwest in Seattle, Washington, the 16th Annual National Juried Exhibition at the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles, her Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division grant-funded project No Vacancy at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, Introductions > Connections at the Luckman Gallery on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles. Intrigued with how artistic investigations can be influenced by daily life as well as random experience and imagination, her varied work has been described as "witty ... beautiful ... subtle ... and desolate." Kireilyn's interests include all forms of visual expression, including experimental and documentary film, dance, literature, philosophy and cultural history. She has several projects in progress, including the continuing development of her website kireilynbarber.com. A review of her solo show at Haus Gallery can be found in the May 2006 issue of Artweek. #196 Winter 86