Kate Stevens

Kathmandu Honeymoon

"This series of paintings is a response to my trip to Kathmandu, Nepal at the beginning of 2005, which was an almost hallucinatory introduction to the valley of gods, tuk-tuks, Holy cows and in-laws to be.

The works are sourced from snapshots and video-footage of my daily travels in and around the rambling/scrambling city; moments caught at a hilltop temple or from the back of a motorbike winding homewards.

I am intrigued by the play that occurs when these fleeting transient video images are captured in the somewhat contemplative medium of oil paint; and the way in which through painting these photographic images they can be re-invested with the fleshy vibrancy of everyday life.

This process is evocative of the vivid bustling impermanence so evident in Kathmandu, that is also inherent in the simple daily experience of passing through spaces and places anywhere."

Kate Stevens