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Blythe King – Collage
Blythe King's work is exceptional for its moving revelations in image transfer, collage, and the ancient art of gold leafing. She gives expression to her ongoing deconstruction of images of women through the lens of Zen Buddhist practice. Her work has exhibited nationwide. She works as an educator, collaborator, program director, and practicing artist. In 2021, Blythe launched Open Space Education in response to the growing need for access to nature, art, and alternative modes of learning for young people in Richmond. Blythe’s academic background combines an MA in Buddhism and Art from the University of Colorado, with undergraduate studies in Japanese religion and art at the University of Richmond. She currently serves as President on the board of Richmond Zen.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Zen is a practice of losing myself. Through meditation, I’m undoing who I thought I was and becoming more fully myself. Pulling from American mail-order catalogs (circa 1940-80), I use these images to undo them. I transform mainstream images of women into evocative portraits. My women become boundless.
The image transfer process conveys this transformation. It involves enlarging and printing images, layering them with glue, saturating with water, then rubbing away the paper until I’m left with a transparent film that I incorporate into the collage. Transparency allows multiple layers in a single portrait to be viewed all at once, as if arraying the many layers of our own complex natures. Through this process, I find clarity.
The torn edges of the acrylic transfers recall my background in Japanese art. Like expressive brushstrokes in calligraphy, the edges of my transfers have meaning. They emphasize how these women have been lifted from the magazine pages to be seen anew.
For many, the familiar isn’t worth a closer look, but transparent skins reveal what’s beneath the surface. The line between viewer and viewed dissolves. We become vast and radiant like these women, and more fully ourselves.
