Kilmany-Jo Liversage / Portraiture revised and reenvisioned
Like the blurring and merging of genres and contexts in her portraits, the title of Kilmany-Jo Liversage’s screen print is a hybrid of words and names, concepts and ideals – and follows a naming convention she often employs throughout her body of work.
ETHORA is a portmanteau of “ethereal” and “Thor”, thus juxtaposing notions of delicacy with formidable strength. In essence, it describes a strong female persona, in the process questioning and upending definitions of strength and femininity, and, in the artist’s words “invit[ing] you to feel the electric tension between fragility and ferocity, where every brushstroke and spray becomes a spellbinding assertion of presence in an ever-shifting urban narrative.”
A revisionist approach to portraiture – in subject matter and form – is the focus of Liversage’s work and was beautifully realised in this latest limited edition screen print. Her usual medium and process made for a compelling translation in the studio: The layered nature of her painting echoed in the screen printing technique; unexpected colours were created in the overlaps, in the the compounding of these layers; and her signature marks of spray paint and loose brush work claimed their space right at the start of the process, made directly on the positives.
We’re thrilled with the final result, and that we’re able to offer one of Liversage’s portraits as an editioned artwork – keeping its integrity intact (remember, a fine art screen print is an original artwork, not a reproduction), while offering collectors the opportunity to own an original piece by an artist whose works are in high demand the world over.
