The shapes of her chandeliers range from simple jewel cascades to more elaborate installations involving every day objects and wildlife. All of her shapes are made of paper and most of her chandeliers get their glow from lighting which she incorporates strategically to give off a fairytale surrealist vibe. Though the lighting is artificial in her exhibitions, I would imagine it came from natural light as these installations would have hung in front of her window beforehand.
Kirsten has admitted, in a previous Huffington Post interview, that she believes her work is a manifestation of her views on feminism, gender roles and how that affects personal relationships. This is very obvious in her use of jewels, petals and a lightweight medium such as paper. They support her beliefs as they are ironically associated with femininity and fairy tales. She also uses pinks and reds as back lighting for her installations which, as everyone knows, are hues most commonly associated with romance and love.
Kirsten acknowledges that her craft looks meticulously planned and assembled but admits that she works one piece at a time so as to not take the surprise out of the process. She starts by making individual pieces of intricate paper manipulation and then puts them all together randomly. This results in a display of pretty, organized chaos that challenges our definition of a window as being just a translucent barrier between our private space and that of the public. Like putting a filter on a camera lens, Kirsten’s paper craft offers us a view of the outside world through aesthetic enhancement.
Her latest exhibition: “Dans la Lune”
