Six Foot Gallery is delighted to present its annual spring show, Awakenings, featuring twenty-seven artists working in a diverse range of mediums and disciplines including sculpture, soundscapes, textiles, collage, video, woodturning, jewellery, photography, screenprinting, performance, and painting.

Kirsty is a painter and illustrator from Glasgow, specialising in acrylic painting, making use of a bright and selective colour palette to compliment her distinct cartoon-inspired style. Her work primarily celebrates the joys and innocence of animal life and is an extension of her profound love for animals and the environment. It wasn’t until the year 2020, when she became invested in sustainability, veganism, ecology, and animal welfare that the theme of animals in her work became noticeable. This unconscious action of painting animals has since become a conscious one, hoping to convey to the public that investing in the conservation of wild animals and their habitats would be, not only a highly moral and ethical decision, but essential for our future existence as humans.

While Kirsty paints animal illustrations with naive colours and defined outlines, she also explores a hyper-realistic style with exaggerated tones and more varied subject matter.

Hi Kirsty! How did your artistic journey start?
My artistic journey started from watching cartoons, especially ‘Spongebob’ when I was wee. I would sit in front of the TV and pause it whenever a weird or unusual image or face came on and I’d draw it. I’d keep doing that until I was happy with all the wonderful drawings I had done. Eventually, I had folders upon folders of drawings of characters from Spongebob Squarepants which then led me to draw other characters from other cartoons. Since then I have explored other styles but you can still see the influence that cartoons have had on the work that I produce today.

How did you arrive at the theme of your work?
I arrived at the theme of my work (animals, for the most part), very subconsciously. I had been drawing and painting various animals for a while before I realised that I was drawing and painting animals. Noticing this theme I can only assume was due to becoming invested in sustainability, veganism, ecology, and animal welfare around 2020.

What emotions or reactions do you hope viewers experience when they see your artwork?
When viewers see my artwork I hope they are happy. I also hope they don’t think too much into it.

What do you do to keep motivated and interested in your work?
To keep motivated and interested in my work I have a lot of hobbies. Having a lot of interests means that I don’t get creative block, or at least I think that’s why! I also experiment with different mediums so if I don’t want to paint then I’ll crotchet or embroider or spray paint, tattoo, knit, sketch or sculpt.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about your work or your experiences as an artist?
I would like people to know that my work doesn’t symbolise anything (usually). There’s no deeper meaning to anything I produce really. I’m just having fun because making art is fun and freeing.

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different? Can you share a glimpse of your next project?
My next project is kind of different from my usual style; I would love to design gig posters, album artwork, and design stuff in the music realm. I am trying my hand at digital art, as I’ve found it very difficult, limiting, and time-consuming trying to achieve results for those kind of designs using traditional methods.

You can find out more about Kirsty and her work on her Instagram @kirstywithaq Awakenings runs at Six Foot Gallery until Friday 24th May.