Beth Kirby

"For this piece I wanted to create something with a bit of attitude. Recently I’ve been looking at text and font from 70s and 80s signage and magazines, and am starting to incorporate it into my work. It’s also important to me that I don’t create the text painstakingly - I want it to be immediate and raw, especially when combined with this more delicate drawing style.

"The message behind this piece is something I think lots of people might have experienced if you have a talent or passion in a generally male-dominated field, like art. There’s this misplaced notion that you’re good, but you’re just being included as a favour or because of your gender, rather than because you have something real to say, or because what you produce is good.

"I think this piece is supposed to turn that sideways a little, and by wearing that short-sighted statement as a badge of pride I hope to highlight that art produced by people identifying as women is equally as important and note-worthy as art made by a man."
–Beth Kirby

Beth Kirby is an artist living and working in Bristol, UK. Her work discusses issues of the female body and the female experience through drawing, painting, colour and 3D mediums.

Her repeated exploration of the nude female form, incorporating diverse references from vintage pornography, Instagram posts and self-portraiture, explores sexuality, nakedness and ways of seeing the body and also what it means for her personally to be a woman in the age of social media and fourth wave feminism. When combined with an emphasis on line, colour and composition, the result is a bold and provocative body of work that retains objectivity and sensitivity.

With a background in conceptual art and illustration, Beth Kirby’s work has appeared in several group shows and solo shows in the UK and has appeared in numerous sapces, print and online publications, from drawing publications to feminist zines to murals.