THE art of crossing cultures is a big part of artist Kristin Tennyson's work.

Originally from Canada, Kristin has had first-hand experience of changing her social and geographical landscape when she arrived in Australia some 15 years ago.

Her exhibition at KickArts, a year in the making during her residency, is based on the very concept of moving and bringing trophies from past lives.

“The trophies can be ideas, family values, friendships, or anything we hold dear,” she says.

Kristin found what is precious for one person means nothing to another and vice versa.

Her own trophies that she brought from Canada are deer antlers, not from hunting, but collected when deer naturally shed and left them behind.

She brought them with her because they remind her of home.

Animals are a big part of the exhibition because they hold a certain rawness of human nature that Kristin finds intriguing.
“My sculpture, The Dogs of War, is about two cultures clashing,” she says.

The transition from Canada to Australia one might think would be easy enough but Kristin encountered cultural difficulties when she arrived.

For one thing, her accent was a turn-off for people who thought she was American.

“I was always being asked if I was American and being treated differently and judged when people heard my voice,” she says.

She found this particularly daunting when she lived in Western Australia, where she says she made no friends and only lasted a year.

But Cairns became her home and one where she was warmly accepted, and so she would have no other.

“I like the climate and that it’s small enough that you know people,” she says.

Kristin’s exhibition is, in fact, peopled by some of Cairns identities. There’s artist Brian Robinson, Billy from Billy’s Coffee and children of her friends, who have posed for her.

Kristin finds children another source of honesty as they tend to morph to please others.

“I asked my son, who is five, to show me his favourite thing, and he came out in his Ironman costume,” she says, laughing.

“This age group is so blatant in changing their identity to fit in.”

Hunting seems to be another theme of the exhibition in that it is one of those colonial pastimes that traverse continents.

Kristin says when she was living in Cape Tribulation the men went pig hunting, and in so doing were similar to the men back home in Canada.

“I have this horror memory from growing up as a kid,” she says.

“I went to a friend’s house and I remember this blood dripping down the driveway.

 “It was in a suburb like that in Desperate Housewives and here in the garage was a dead stag, something so beautiful, just shot.

“My friend’s dad was German and he had travelled two hours north to go hunting and bring his trophy back to suburbia.”
There are antlers in Kristin’s exhibition and paintings of stags to represent the pastime of hunting and, naturally there are plenty of reds.

“I also use a lot of lavender and green and red tonal variations,” she says.

The exhibition, named God, Queen and Country, has backdrop walls of red that look like rich wallpaper, but are actually decorated with large stencils.

“I want my audience to think about what the title of the show means to them, to think about immigration, fitting in and cultural nuances,” Kristin says, busy putting the last-minute pieces together for what she describes as her biggest solo exhibition yet, and a space she says she finds rather daunting to fill.

“The obvious and easy way to illustrate these subjects was to use flags and crests but I discovered this approach would not express my personal journey, my identity or my view of Australian culture,” she says.

“This time I have taken it further, I’ve stripped it back and got rid of the decoration.”

Kristin’s artwork is in a variety of mediums from painting to sculpture and she doesn’t have a preference for either, but says they involve different processes.

“Painting is a far quicker process, I’m quite active and fast with it, whereas sculpture forces me to slow down.”

From a family of artists on her mother’s side, Kristin never had any doubts as to where her life would lead and is currently developing her skills further with a master of creative arts at JCU.

“I never wanted to be anything else.”

>> KickArts artist-in-residence Kristin Tennyson’s solo exhibition, God, Queen and Country opens on Friday, November 18 at 6pm. Dr Stephen Naylor from James Cook University will open the exhibition. There will be an artist talk on Saturday, November 19 at 10.30am and the exhibition runs until January 7. 

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