You start with a generic body, but I think the first wall you hit with portraiture is comprised of history and storytelling and the nature of characters - whether they are historical or coming from literature or documentation. Those are the references we have to people, besides your family, and the intimacy of portraiture is in the specifics of individuals. For me, it came out of doing things about animals.
Kiki SmithIt is very different when you age. The things that are significant, or what drives you, or the physical experience of being driven, changes over time.
Kiki SmithThe miracle of being able to pay attention to other people in your life, and the miracle of being in time, and to continue being in time.
Kiki SmithOne's self is always shifting in relationship to beauty and you always have to be able to incorporate yourself or your new self into life. Like your skin starts hanging off your arms and stuff, and then you have to think, well that's really beautiful too. It just isn't beautiful in a way that I knew it was beautiful before.
Kiki Smith