Self Portraits

Kate Gilmore With Open Arms, 2005 (video still)

The idea of self or the absence there of, is referenced in any work of art. Whether it is directly commented upon or not, the selves of the viewer, the artist, and the subject are always present. Kate Gilmore's work is no different. While not explicitly self- portraiture, nearly all her videos feature her physical self and some facsimile of her emotional self. While it can not be said that the character in the videos isn't her, it is also true that the person being spattered with tomatoes in the photo above is most definitely Kate Gilmore. She uses this contradiction as a way to talk about our other self, the universal human self. Her ideas are emotional ones that speak to the center of human experience and seek to find a connective thread between all types.