Early Reveal: Observer KAtie SHanks/SUbject JOrdan Avila

A small group of us gathered in my crowded living room and discussed Katie's cautiously completed portrait of fellow artist Jordan Avila. Like a physical mass of shed experience, the hanging sculpture incorporates body casting techniques, clothing and other memory-laden leavings. A shed skin of sorts, her elegantly contained construct inspired feelings of simultaneous attraction and repulsion as we delved into the nature of the piece. While Katie is no stranger to bodily forms in her work, it is not often that she focuses on a specific individual in a portrait form. In fact many of us in this first round are not portraitists in practice and the project has presented a challenge and a fresh perspective in the sphere of our work. Katie has flourished within this structure having created a piece that is contained and concise, penetrable and personal; and perhaps just creepy enough.

-Noel Madrid