Kristin Anderson featured in the Edmonton Journal

Artist creates ‘tactile paintings’ out of clay

By Marta Gold, Edmonton Journal
August 8, 2013

EDMONTON - Artist Kristin Anderson borrows her sculpting medium from crafty kids and many of her techniques from cake decorators.

Using Fimo, the popular modelling clay, she creates 3-D wall hangings that are “like tactile paintings,” often of flowers, landscapes and other natural scenes.

“I think people like the idea that it’s something familiar, but it’s a different use for it. A lot of people when they see it say, ‘is that Fimo?’ And they say, ‘oh, I use that to make ornaments with my kids at Christmas.’”

But Anderson takes the colourful polymer clay to a level far beyond holiday tree-hangers, crafting intricate flowers of various sorts, from delicate cherry blossoms to lush roses.

Perhaps it’s because she can’t enjoy the real things up close — she’s allergic to flowers, a sad irony for the daughter of a florist, fittingly named Flora. “She would give me an arrangement for my birthday and I would react to it,” says Anderson with a laugh. “This is a safe way for me to enjoy them.”

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Kristin's exhibition Static Bloom runs in the Discovery Gallery until September 7, 2013