The Works of Artist Anna Kincaide

Anna Kincaide

The works of artist Anna Kincaide are a gateway to a world that is at once fantastical and familiar, inspired by fashion, photography, as well as elements of the decorative arts. Juxtaposing control and spontaneous disruption, Kincaide emphasizes the hidden, internal landscape of the figures she portrays.

Anna’s artistic career can be traced back to two things: a love affair with Cary Grant and drawing book given to her by her mother.

When Anna was young she consumed instructional books gifted by her parents with names like “Basic Drawing,” and “Dynamic Figure Drawing.” With a gift for drawing and a flurry of possibilities in her head, she found inspiration in an unexpected place.

In college, a degree in interior design, lead to a job at a New York fashion design agency where she spent four years cultivating her craft. It was not to long before Anna returned back to her true passion: fine art.

Kincaide's references to history and fashion are clear. In her works we are reminded of the extravagant heights of Marie Antoinette's famous coiffure, which reached greater and greater heights in 18th century France, the iconic headdress of Egyptian queen Nefertiti, the famous French Hood of Anne Boleyn, and the modest Spanish style one of Catherine of Aragon. These powerful women used fashion as a political tool as much as to make a statement.

Anna Kincaide’s artistic trademark is her ability of capturing the elegant and timeless couture feel of the Cary Grant era; and painting the subjects’ where the faces are not visible, which, Anna says, allows others to better identify with each painting.

While Kincaide incorporates this, and numerous other art historical and fashion references in her work such as fashion photography, illustration, as well as the idea of the portrait bust or silhouette, it is the defining separation between the body and mind that creates the central theme in her work. The body language of her subject is very important in her work as she does not rely on facial expression to convey emotion but rather gesture, color and clothing. In short, the idea of the ambiguity between our physical bodies, personal identity and that private, internal space of our minds, which expands and unfurls like a flower in bloom. Anna Kincaide presents a world where dreams can become reality, and even surpass it.