Touch

Artist: Kiki Smith
Title of Work: Touch (set of six prints)
Year: 2006
Plate Dimensions: various
Sheet Dimensions: 30″ x 22″
Material: Aquatint and etching on paper
Photo Line: Courtesy of Harlan & Weaver
Collection Credit: Courtesy of Harlan & Weaver

Touch is an evocation of familial love, loss and connection. Moved by the death of her mother in 2005, Smith made engravings of the condolence bouquets, thus documenting a transitory moment from life to death. The artist evokes a long tradition of European still-life painting, depicting fleeting works of nature in order to remind viewers of death’s imminence. Mourning is about loss, but here Smith transforms it into a productive, generative force.

–Angela Bryan-Brown ’14, Gund Gallery Volunteer

Touch
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