Kiss Paintings, 2000-2018
Repeatedly lipstick is applied, the canvas is kissed and a kiss mark/lip print is left behind resulting in a white canvases covered with different kiss marks. All the participants are creators of the Kiss Paintings, the lip stick colour and placement of each kiss and thus the final composition determined by those who leave their kiss mark on the canvas – the signature mark of the artist made completely overt. The kisses are sealed in and the signatures of those who created the Kiss Painting are affixed to the back of the canvas. Conceptual/process painting and performance art is combined with the language of abstraction and pop art.
The lipsticked lip print/kiss mark is familiar yet ambiguous. It speaks of contact, of desire and passion, of healing and of betrayal and of the messy business of relationships. Although used extensively for commercial purposes the kiss mark still resonates on a personal level, and is ultimately a symbol of love. Kiss marks have a remarkable morphological similarity to other biological forms yet each kiss mark is completely different. The canvas is covered as if with specimens in a Victorian entomological collection, the orderliness gone array like a butterflies loosened from their pins on a board.
Various venues, including Art Gallery of Ontario's Massive Party, 2006.
Public collaborative Kiss Paintings Installations:
- Street Festival, Toronto Pride 2018
- Love-In, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Culture Days, 2012.
- AGO Massive Party, 2006
- Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit, 2002/2003
- Love-In, 2003
- Fool For Love, 2002. Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects
Gallery Exhibition of Kiss Paintings
- Gallery Stratford, 2006
