Art against all odds

"Award Winning artist Katy Kianush is no stranger to living through troubled times."

She has survived a car crash, paralysed her arm, had a family illness and lost her voice. But despite all this she is about to have her latest work on show in Swindon.

Katy's exhibition, Modern Classics, is at the Wyvern Theatre from Tuesday 2nd to 27th September. Opening hours are from 10am to 6pm from Monday to Saturday and on show evenings.

...Her pictures have undergone an amazing switch in styles from the realistic portraits and landscapes to a more mysterious and symbolic style of art.

The first wall has pictures of women and birds intertwined.

'They are women's faces in realistic style but you see the soul of the bird through the eyes of the woman. I used collage to produce a 3d effect using precious and semi-precious stones, feathers and suede,' said the 39-year-old artist from Wootton Bassett.

The 'Mermaid' has shells and pearls and 'The Venetian' is a portrait with fresh water pearls and copper sheetings. Another wall has a more illustrative, art nouveau approach with pictures including The Siren which is graphic and paintings symbolising countries such as Ireland and Persia.

The final two walls are dedicated to Katy's ballerinas for which she is renowned......"

Dancing off the Canvas

"AWARD-WINNING artist Katy Kianush is pirouetting into the world of ballet with her latest exhibition.

Katy, from Wootton Bassett, has her third solo exhibition, Visions of Beauty, on show at Swindon's Wyvern Theatre until November 26.

Katy won the Royal Sovereign (Rembrandt) Award, and the DalerRowney International Award at NAPA (National Acrylic Painters Association) Open Exhibitions and is now listed in the Who's Who in Art.
Visions of Beauty is based on two themes. The ballet pictures are fast line drawings in pen and ink which capture movement, shape and form.
She has added an acrylic wash to bring out the romantic atmosphere of the ballet with touches of gold, copper and silver relief.

The second theme of this Swindon Artscape exhibition explores the mystic beauty of the relationship between man and nature. The artist uses symbolism and paints in the style of art nouveau with bold colours and sharply outlined shapes. ......"

"On the eve of eStart's campaign and the world's celebrations for International Women's Day, I wanted to share with our users some of the lessons I have learned from the remarkable women we are featuring this week...
...We have with us this week teachers and writers, painters and poets. They're all women who have broken the mold for Iranian women - even from the outside.
Take Katy Kianush, an Iranian artist living in England, who does more than just preserve her culture in her work... It's been 24 years since she set foot in Iran, yet the art scene there wouldn't be the same without her."

Autumn Kaleidoscope
by Katy Kianush.
Acrylic on Paper.

IRANIAN-born Katy Kianush followed in her family's footsteps into the arts, and she is matching her parents' literary successes with awards for her painting.

Her father Mahmud has published several books of poetry. His latest in English is an anthology of Modern Persian Poetry. Her mother Pari has translated numerous books by such writers as E Nesbit, Jules Verne and George Eliot.

Katy started painting as a child, and at the age of ten, her illustrations for children's poetry books were published in Iran.

East meets West in her subject matter which includes intricate Persian, Japanese and Chinese miniatures, worked in pen and ink and watercolours, and landscapes painted in acrylics on a grander scale.

Autumn Kaleidoscope, winner of the Daler-Rowney International Award at the NAPA exhibition by public vote, was painted in Cryla on stretched heavyweight cartridge paper....

....Katy is one of the growing number of artists promoting her work on the web. See www.art-arena.com

Art Take

'An Afternoon Stroll, New England', by Katy Kianush. An example of the new Internet gallery Art Arena which combines a gallery of new paintings alongside modern poetry, prose and card designs.