Love Letters #2
Dear Friend,
Over the past ten years I grew accustomed to hiding behind my work.
The redesign of a formal website and portfolio illuminated my resistance to openly sharing a public persona, and I could no longer pretend that social media was an inconsequential marketing tool to sustain an autonomous business.
My desire to authentically present myself to the world was met with an equal amount of fear. Terrified at how I might be perceived after a decade of training, growth, and development in an entirely new industry, I set out to redefine myself.
How was I going to break free of my preexisting mold as a commercial artist with skills in marketing, graphic design, and illustration? How was I going to blend that with my identity as a storyteller and a fine artist? Where did tattooing fit in this personal rebrand? And how was I going to convince people that every expression of my personal work stems from the intention of healing trauma?
As my list of professional assets grew, I seemed to be more confused about my role as a producer and an entrepreneur. The only clear connection between all of these expressions was me.
While building the “Katherine Brannock” website with my talented and insightful friend, Fabrizio Scippa, I realized the most difficult task was to turn the camera lens around and present my identity to the world. It was time to share the thoughts, and inspirations that informed the many facets of my creative identity, as well as explain how these different aesthetics could cohabitate in one mind, body, and soul.
I’ve created and developed a gender woke, a-political, a-religious children’s book affirming the beauty, complexity, delicacy, and transience of life. I also tattoo naked cyclops women from outer space onto the corporeal forms of willing participants in a consensually agreed upon procedure. Even those two polarizing examples fail to elucidate the broader spectrum of what I do, and what I have done in the breadth of my career as an artist.
With the help of Fabrizio’s mentorship during the development of this website, I have finally broken down the barriers between myself and my audience, while reconciling the polarities which occupy my mind.
I have more thoughts regarding the reasons behind so many different and extreme inner worlds living rent free in my mind, but I will leave that exploration for another day.
XOXO
Katherine