Weird Girl Art
by Kylie E. Bassett
Tuesday Rascal is…
Tuesday is color and quirk. She is mischief and ascots. She rides her old schwinn madly through the city streets, no hands—no fear, dancing to something that can bounce. She draws like she did when she was twelve. Oh man, twelve year old Kylie is proud. I can feel her within me, enamored with my life and adventures. I can picture how she’d gasp at the sight of my art studio, how she’d run her fingers over my paint stained drafting table, how she’d smile up at me. She’d say I’ve arrived. She’d call me an artist.
Abandoning my compulsion to appeal, I’ve spent the last five years exploring—making messes and cleaning them up, in life and art. I make art because I must. The pull to design an outer world that matches the feeling of my internal world is strong. These gals are all me in their ways, I’m afraid. I turn to my creative practice in the peaks and valleys of my life. It’s like I’m painting as a result of some type of energetic overflow. Meaning that the works are always infused with my most intense emotions, the deepest pain and greatest joy.
These ‘weird girl’ paintings are to shed light upon our inevitable darkness. They are to honor bravery, celebrate individuality, and to remind that being alone doesn’t always mean lonely. They are a constant exploration of self. They are an invitation for you to ask yourself the same. Who am I? What should I lean into? What is my life for?
Art.
