Artist and photographer Emma Kisiel was born in western New
York but raised and educated in Colorado where the animals are plentiful. She
shows her care for topics such as the increase of animals being run over or hit
by vehicles and left to lie there as well as the beauty of the nature of
animals. Her pieces are intimate with shallow depth of fields, usually focusing
on an animal in the center of the piece. A tripod would be necessary to be able
to change out the animal while still maintaining the same distance in the
frame. This can be seen in her works titled “At Rest” and “Pretty Chickens.”
“At Rest” is touching and powerful at the same time. There is
an obvious message about the ever-increasing rate of animals being hit by
vehicles but there is such a tenderness in the respect the artist has for her
subjects. This same style can be seen when Kisiel makes pictures of living
animals as well. Her chickens appear more like primadonnas, pamperd and preened
to look their best for their close-up. A love for the beauty of animals living,
sleep such as in “Cher Ami,” and even in death can be seen in Kisiel’s work.
I did not realize how the topic of increasing road kill
effected me before I read about this artist. I was so interested in tackling
the big subjects that I forgot the smaller, less thought of ones such as this. In
that sense, I appreciate an artist who tells the viewer about herself and about
myself. Also, Kisiel considers a third voice, one not heard to often, the voice
of the dead and the voice of the animal.
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