Mirror was a finalist in The Kingston Prize, Canada’s national portrait competition. “Mirror” is a painting of my friend, Mandy, who I’ve known since high school. She is a talented, dedicated performer who sacrificed a simple, comfortable life to pursue her art. This painting portrays something of her and of our relationship. The simultaneous strength, energy, vulnerability, and risk required to perform as she does seems foreign to me. How can she expose so much of herself? This composition puts me in the room with her, close enough to place a hand on her shoulder and brush back her hair. But even standing so close, I realize I don’t have the same view she has. She is lost in her reflection in a moment of quiet contemplation – but for us, the shabby mirrored doors fracture her reflection, and I know I can’t see what she sees. No matter how public the figure is, we just see pieces.

Kristy Blackwell

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Kristy Blackwell uses figurative realism to try to capture a bit of the complex nature of humanity. There is common understanding in these relatable images: beauty in sadness and in fortitude, beauty in the exposed and in the protected. Kristy’s work has won various awards and been featured in print and online art magazines. It is held in numerous collections.