Sophia Kenna + Carolyn White

KIN

7-13 October 2024

Opening: Wednesday 9th Oct 6-8pm

Exhibition continues daily 10am-4pm, closes 4pm Sunday 13 October 2024.

Mother and daughter come together as Kin. Abstract contemporary artist Sophia Kenna and contemporary visual artist Carolyn White have selected musings and memories surrounding their relationship and individual experiences. Sophia’s works draw on an essence of memory and the layers, real and imagined this creates. Carolyn’s work is complex, quirky and colourful, engaging inner child-like subject matter.

The project between the two marks a distinct meeting of two very different artistic styles, finding a commonality by the universal nature of human experience, bookmarked by a mother-daughter relationship. By drawing on their own memories, both artists took an opportunity to explore the connection between their personal journeys, and their role as mother/daughter/individual.

Sophia Kenna is an artist based in Walyalup (Fremantle). Her artistic practice has been steady in a slow process of coming home, after completing her diploma in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School in 2020. Sophia’s work explores concepts of memory and nostalgia, and how essences of the past remembered can be explored through colour stories. Her pieces are made with both acrylic and oil paints, oil pastels, and screen printing. Working across a variety of mediums allows exploration of textural irregularities, with a combination of abstraction and figuration.

Carolyn White is a versatile visual artist living in Walyalup (Fremantle). Working across diverse mediums, she has a passion for community and storytelling via celebrating life in colour through her work. Her artworks emphasise vibrancy and imagination. Practicing for over 20 years, White has contributed to and facilitated community projects, workshops, and artworks within educational and mental health facilities, and private commissions.

“Art is a beautiful way to communicate, connect, and translate with the world.”

“I am excited to be exhibiting for the first time in a while, alongside my mother, Carolyn. Exploring collective memories through individual pieces was a way for myself and my mother, Carolyn, to attempt to bring together our very different artistic styles. Looking back at crucial times in our growth, as well as remembered moments that we both perceive a certain way was an attempt to go deeper. Creating multiple layers with paint, pastel and print, and stripping back what was needed allowed me to curate an essence of the way these memories are formed in my mind.”

‘KIN’ – One’s family/relatives/ancestry

This is a very special opportunity to be showcasing with my daughter Sophia. A collaborative creation of celebrating our individual artistic styles and sharing personal stories. The subjects we chose in KIN have taken me on a journey down a rabbit hole of childhood and adulthood memories, lessons and blessings. While keeping within an unapologetically positive stylistic approach, through personal investigation I have discovered some grey areas.