Canadian photographic artist, Kourtney Roy, captures flashes of the fantastical amidst the mundane. Though the colours are deceptively sweet, the images are enshrouded in mystery, with a hint of darkness. Like the world order of our times, the closer you look, the more disturbing it appears.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KOURTNEY ROY
The loneliness and exorbitance that touch the human soul present themselves in Kourtney Roy’s narrative, which is reminiscent of Guy Bourdin, David Lynch or Cindy Sherman. Her compositions are dominated by candescent colours, parody characters, and a sense of darkness and mystery which urges us to fall for the deceptiveness of this plastic world. On the nostalgic feeling of her imagery Roy says, ‘Colour and warmth also help me make my images timeless. Aesthetic choices, clothes, places, some think we are in the 1950s, others in the 1970s,’ but Roy deliberately leaves us with this sense of timelessness and doubt.
Intrigued by the idea of creating a tragic mythology of the self and the possibilities it beholds, the Canadian artist often emerges as the subject, disguised as an array of personas in numerous contexts. While living in Canada, Roy says she felt unsure of what to say about the world, so she started photographing herself, in an attempt to avoid
offending anyone. But that has changed – the artist now takes pleasure from it. She acts out her imaginary world, creates universes and even lives in them.
When asked about the visual world which inspires and stimulates her, Roy says, ‘The ‘nostalgic feel’ comes from what I like to think of as the giant cultural image reservoir in my brain, where all the images I have ever seen, since I was a child, are stored. These images are sometimes memories from my own life and sometimes they are ‘cultural’ memories, generic images seen and felt through mass media and culture, that inform and cast a filter on certain moments of our lives. Often these are shared images, which is why other people often experience feelings of recognition or disconnection when they see my images.’
Cold-blooded serial killers, formidable storybook heroes and all the residents of the Bates Motel seem to reside in Roy’s photographs. The frozen lives of these women swing like a pendulum between the green witch that aspires to become Dorothy and the Dorothy who traps the green witch squirming under her skin. You can turn your eyes away all you want, but you have little chance of escaping the images of Kourtney Roy’s universe, which is a strange hybrid of reality and fantasy.
Canadian photographic artist, Kourtney Roy, captures flashes of the fantastical amidst the mundane. Though the colours are deceptively sweet, the images are enshrouded in mystery, with a hint of darkness. Like the world order of our times, the closer you look, the more disturbing it appears.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KOURTNEY ROY
The loneliness and exorbitance that touch the human soul present themselves in Kourtney Roy’s narrative, which is reminiscent of Guy Bourdin, David Lynch or Cindy Sherman. Her compositions are dominated by candescent colours, parody characters, and a sense of darkness and mystery which urges us to fall for the deceptiveness of this plastic world. On the nostalgic feeling of her imagery Roy says, ‘Colour and warmth also help me make my images timeless. Aesthetic choices, clothes, places, some think we are in the 1950s, others in the 1970s,’ but Roy deliberately leaves us with this sense of timelessness and doubt.
Intrigued by the idea of creating a tragic mythology of the self and the possibilities it beholds, the Canadian artist often emerges as the subject, disguised as an array of personas in numerous contexts. While living in Canada, Roy says she felt unsure of what to say about the world, so she started photographing herself, in an attempt to avoid
offending anyone. But that has changed – the artist now takes pleasure from it. She acts out her imaginary world, creates universes and even lives in them.
When asked about the visual world which inspires and stimulates her, Roy says, ‘The ‘nostalgic feel’ comes from what I like to think of as the giant cultural image reservoir in my brain, where all the images I have ever seen, since I was a child, are stored. These images are sometimes memories from my own life and sometimes they are ‘cultural’ memories, generic images seen and felt through mass media and culture, that inform and cast a filter on certain moments of our lives. Often these are shared images, which is why other people often experience feelings of recognition or disconnection when they see my images.’
Cold-blooded serial killers, formidable storybook heroes and all the residents of the Bates Motel seem to reside in Roy’s photographs. The frozen lives of these women swing like a pendulum between the green witch that aspires to become Dorothy and the Dorothy who traps the green witch squirming under her skin. You can turn your eyes away all you want, but you have little chance of escaping the images of Kourtney Roy’s universe, which is a strange hybrid of reality and fantasy.
Canadian photographic artist, Kourtney Roy, captures flashes of the fantastical amidst the mundane. Though the colours are deceptively sweet, the images are enshrouded in mystery, with a hint of darkness. Like the world order of our times, the closer you look, the more disturbing it appears.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KOURTNEY ROY
The loneliness and exorbitance that touch the human soul present themselves in Kourtney Roy’s narrative, which is reminiscent of Guy Bourdin, David Lynch or Cindy Sherman. Her compositions are dominated by candescent colours, parody characters, and a sense of darkness and mystery which urges us to fall for the deceptiveness of this plastic world. On the nostalgic feeling of her imagery Roy says, ‘Colour and warmth also help me make my images timeless. Aesthetic choices, clothes, places, some think we are in the 1950s, others in the 1970s,’ but Roy deliberately leaves us with this sense of timelessness and doubt.
Intrigued by the idea of creating a tragic mythology of the self and the possibilities it beholds, the Canadian artist often emerges as the subject, disguised as an array of personas in numerous contexts. While living in Canada, Roy says she felt unsure of what to say about the world, so she started photographing herself, in an attempt to avoid
offending anyone. But that has changed – the artist now takes pleasure from it. She acts out her imaginary world, creates universes and even lives in them.
When asked about the visual world which inspires and stimulates her, Roy says, ‘The ‘nostalgic feel’ comes from what I like to think of as the giant cultural image reservoir in my brain, where all the images I have ever seen, since I was a child, are stored. These images are sometimes memories from my own life and sometimes they are ‘cultural’ memories, generic images seen and felt through mass media and culture, that inform and cast a filter on certain moments of our lives. Often these are shared images, which is why other people often experience feelings of recognition or disconnection when they see my images.’
Cold-blooded serial killers, formidable storybook heroes and all the residents of the Bates Motel seem to reside in Roy’s photographs. The frozen lives of these women swing like a pendulum between the green witch that aspires to become Dorothy and the Dorothy who traps the green witch squirming under her skin. You can turn your eyes away all you want, but you have little chance of escaping the images of Kourtney Roy’s universe, which is a strange hybrid of reality and fantasy.
CURA
18
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Karaköy Tarihi Un Değirmeni Binası, Kemankeş Mahallesi, Ali Paşa Değirmen Sokak 16, 34425, Karaköy Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com
CURA
18
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Karaköy Tarihi Un Değirmeni Binası, Kemankeş Mahallesi, Ali Paşa Değirmen Sokak 16, 34425, Karaköy Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com
CURA
18
OUT NOW
is a large format international biannual magazine from Istanbul. Focusing on arts, culture and society, each issue tackles various universal subjects within a distinct theme.
Address
Karaköy Tarihi Un Değirmeni Binası, Kemankeş Mahallesi, Ali Paşa Değirmen Sokak 16, 34425, Karaköy Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 232 4288
contact@212magazine.com