contact / about

kristen spillane
kristen@kspill.com
917.817.1227

artist’s statement…
A great friend once said to me. “In the end what do we take with us? A look, an offhand comment that made your day, a thank you, a smile. These are the things that matter, not the size house you lived in or the labels you could afford.” It’s the little things that count.   This is how I have always understood the world. I think the art of everyday existence is every bit as meaningful as the creation of the artifacts and tactile objects that document and try to explain it. Offering a hand when it is least expected, taking the time to understand what someone is trying to say but can’t quite articulate, or simply remembering to smile and say thank you all seem like common acts of human decency, but their potential to affect change is staggering. How simple it can be to find beauty and meaning in the everyday details of life and our surroundings. I like the way rust creeps under paint, I like the way time stops in an austere landscape. In a world driven by Facebook and text messaging where all the information you could ever need or want is accessible from your pocket it is all too easy to overlook the details of the real world. I have found respite in documenting these little things because it helps me to see them better, because it makes me stop and examine them, because it somehow makes them more real and gives proof of their existence. In documenting these things they cease to be little things at all, instead they become things of great intrigue providing fuel for thought and conversation. I like this. I like exposing the details and the magic of the individuals, of the locations, of the situations, of the happenings, because these things don’t need manipulating, only telling. I like telling these stories because they help me understand.