Opposite:
Am I My Brother's Keeper?,
Installation St. Paul's Cathedral
Photo Courtesy of:
Kate Daudy
Above
Kate Daudy
Photo Courtesy of:
Tobias Alexander for the INYT
Kate Daudy’s art is an expression of her “love” for
human beings, a “love” that she notes developed as
a very young person. And it is when Daudy describes
her love for human beings that one senses a true,
heart-felt emotive connection to all people, to all
humanity. Her posture actually changes at the time:
her arms pull close to her body and her eyes withdraw
into a memory of that first instance, before both
explode outward once the memory and sensation
are forged into an en-lightened posture of sparkling
eyes and open arms as she first explains and then
defends what needs not be defended – how real and
powerful that experience was and continues to be.
Coming as it does during our first meeting with Kate in her London studio, the statement is both jarring and engaging as most people do not proffer such direct admissions of their experience during a first meeting. A cynic might say Daudy’s actions are a mask worn by an admittedly shy and private person who has become an international sensation to keep the press and public at bay. And that may have rung true if sitting at a restaurant or hotel bar for the interview; but sitting with Kate over a cup of tea and cake in such an intimate setting, a creative space where she first puts her thoughts and desires on paper before offering finished works of art to the public, we do not get that sense. Instead, we experience a person who knows herself well and is comfortably speaking about who she is, what she has experienced, and why she believes in what she does.
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