Katherine Desjardins

Friends series excerpt
2002
Katherine Desjardins
Point of Contact: On Love, Vol. 6, No.1-2

Artist Statement (excerpt):
I refer to this group of characters as “the Teens”. I discovered them in a children’s encyclopedia. They populate articles which illustrate proper behavior as well as “Hot To” chapters. I’m fascinated by both their perfection as well as their generic American qualities. They invite psychological projection—especially when they are taken out of their original context.

I recently read an article about “micro expressions”—unconscious facial expressions we all make continuously, which reveal how we are truly feeling inside. Apparently only a few people are able to detect these facial expressions in others (since they fly by so lightning fast and can only be studied via slo-mo video). You could say that I detect these expressions in my characters and by just slightly tweaking them I attempt to reveal what I feel lies beneath their model appearance. I guess that is kind of perverted and acidic after all. Oh well…

Artist, curator, and translator, Katherine Desjardins earned her MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. Her practice spans through installations, drawing, video, and performance. In 2013 she founded "Re/visible Cities", a parallel art practice that engages experiential pedagogy towards creation of collaborative projects that spark dialog on climate change, immigration, and gang violence. She exhibits internationally and is recognized by awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Italian Ministry of Culture. Since 2021, Desjardins divides her time between Chicago and Florence.

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