portfolio

Courtney Biggs dissects the ‘reality’ of  pop culture’s young, rich and fabulous as seen in my work in this Honolulu Advertiser review

Joleen Oshiro talks about how the works in my solo show are deeply influenced by the MTV reality show “The Hills” and ties that interest in consumer culture to the export of Western luxury “lifestyle” to China in this Star Bulletin review.

These new text pieces, Suburban Promises, are all from inscriptions in my high school yearbooks. I grew up in a middle class suburb of Chicago, and while nearly everyone I went to school with was more or less economically well off, a sense of longing and sadness pervades these writings. At first mundane, bland, even saccharine pleasantries, upon further reflection the writings capture the desire of young people to hold onto anything they perceive as authentic, meaningful, or good. The writings expose feelings of both admiration and jealousy, as well hope, fear, and regret.

Solo show opens on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at the HPU Art Gallery (HPU’s windward Hawai‘i Loa campus, 45-045 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, HI). For much information write to simonsen.kirsten@gmail.com. The show will be up until November 13, 2009.

My work is in this show of Flatfile artists at Artspace in New Haven, CT

This work will be in a show opening Friday, June 12, at Cedar Street Galleries in Honolulu.