Description of Work

Kin - 2022 - Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, and Paint tool sai - Not For Sale

Artist's Statement

Kin follows the story of a young wolf, who runs away from home after he realizes that he does not fit in with his family; as he would rather live in the wild than with humans. He goes on a journey to find a new family. Kin is a storybook that has come to life through the use of animation. The young wolf discovers that as you grow up you will grow apart from the people that you were once close to. While it is sad to drift away from people you were once close to, better people will always come and fill that empty space.

While the word kin means to be related to somebody through blood, it doesn’t just have to be through blood. Kin also refers to the people that you chose to make your family. Having struggled with similar issues growing up, I wanted people to be able to identify with ‘Kin’ so that they could gain a better understanding of their own life. I also wanted people who have non-conventional families to be given representation with ‘Kin’, since most media tends to focus on nuclear families. People who watch ‘Kin’ will be able to take comfort in the message that good people will always find them regardless of their circumstances.

Creating the animation ‘Kin’ was also a way for me to get back to my origins as an artist. When I began to draw as a child, my subject of choice was wolves. As I got older I drifted away from this subject matter, Kin allowed me to return to the roots of my art and allowed me indulge my inner child once more.

Overall, my hope is that people are able to take away that good people will always find you, and that family doesn’t just mean the people who you are related to. Family can be the people that you chose. Through my work people will be able to gain a better understanding of the changes we experience as we go through life.

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)