An excerpt from an interview with Kiki Smith:
McCormick: Part of what makes your art so powerful and resonant is that it has a remarkable simplicity, directness, and purity that challenges the viewer to wonder why. Why this stomach? Whose stomach? Why is it alone and solitary in space? Why is it made of glass? People have to ask themselves what is it that it's making them feel or think, and why. By not telling the audience what it means, it remains provocatively nonspecific. We may try to read some particular, absolute significance, intention, meaning, or reason behind the work but, in fact, it's simply basic fascination.
Smith: Yeah, I always liked the idea of making things that are really open, that everybody can come to with their own ideas and responses. Everybody already knows everything. You make an object and it's just like saying, "Pay attention to this!" or "Concentrate on this for a moment!" — like a mantra. You already have your own references and you can come to your own associations. Hopefully something in it resonates with enough things that you can think about your own life. I have probably very specific personal reasons for doing things that sometimes I know about and sometimes I don't, but I don't necessarily find it all that interesting to tell people why.
-keo
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