Figuratively Speaking

Part One of Four

The human figure in visual art dates back to approximately 35,000 years ago. The earliest known example is a tiny female figure carved in ivory, found in a cave in southern Germany, 2008. The subject of the human form has remained virtually the same over thousands of years, yet the unlimited creative capacity of the human mind and spirit, continues to reinterpret the female and male figure in remarkable ways.

I have always been captivated by works depicting the figure, and appreciate any opportunity to place it. For our first installment of Figuratively Speaking, meet Kat Moser. Her alluring, evocative, sensual photography is reminiscent to me of the Victorian painters Frederic Leighton, John Everett Millais and JW Waterhouse. Yet, Kat's work is altogether a reflection of our lives today.

Francie

Kat Moser

ARTIST STATEMENT

Ethereal, mystical, spiritual-these are just some of the words I use to describe my work. All three represent the primal connections we have with Mother Earth and her female qualities. I am deeply moved by the powerful, yet often unseen worlds that surround and link us to life's profound mysteries.

This is my creative challenge when making photographs, which lead me to focus my camera on the feminine form, quiet waters and natural landscapes. Whether hazy and dreamy or stark and clear, each final print serves as a tangible reminder and potential window into these special places that exist just beyond the shadows.

ILLUSIONS OF WATER

Water is our most precious resource. We come from it and contain it. It cleanses us and sustains us. Without it we cannot survive.

In mythology; naiads, or water nymphs, symbolize the power of water and reminded ancient cultures of its singular importance in everyday life.

In these dreamlike photographs, I reflect upon water by immersing female figures surrendering to its literal and figurative depth.

The water drenches and absorbs them, allowing these otherworldly women to become buoyant and float free.

Only by giving of themselves unconditionally to water-the symbolic amniotic fluid that nourishes and protects us before birth-can they transcend life and move beyond it to become wholly and utterly transcendent.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kat Moser explores the potency of the female form and the otherworldly aspects of earth and water through her elegant, ethereal and often enigmatic photographs. By envisioning age-old cultural narratives we first experienced in fairy tales, mythology and legends, Moser allows the viewer to revisit mystery and imagination through fresh eyes. Over the past two decades, Moser's photographs have been widely exhibited and especially well received in spa and health care environments as well as the intimate space of private residences.