Artist Statement

For me, art is a creative way to release internal pressures I am still struggling to understand.
Daily questions about what it means to be a good person, struggles between the dark and light sides of myself, ruminations on death and impermanence, and dreams, stories and memories all play a part in my painting experience.
Through my painting I attempt to discover previously hidden secrets.  I try to scare myself, get out of my “comfort zone”, go on a journey where I don't know the destination and couldn't put it into words.
I search for colours not invented yet, images from times long ago forgotten, places that harken to other internal memories and myths.
An integral part of my process is picking a song for each painting and listening to it repetitively while I paint.  I find the music helps me enter another state, where time stops having meaning, and I am free to explore within the world of the canvas.
I hope that the finished painting will become a gateway that others can use to visit their own locked-up memories and emotions.  Or lose themselves within these dreams, for a while.

 

Kaya Murray Bio:
Kaya Murray is an only child.  Raised by traveling, eclectic, Buddhist parents, Kaya spent the first five years of her life in communes and other communities in Greece, Ontario, and rural Quebec.  Her family then travelled across the country and settled on Salt Spring Island, B.C., a rural west-coast community.  Kaya lost her hearing in her right ear at age three, from scarlet fever, and grew up losing the hearing in her left ear.  Isolation has been an ongoing factor in her life.  Encouraged to paint and draw from a young age, Kaya has always used the arts as an outlet for her emotions and a way to connect with the outside world.  Kaya graduated from Concordia University with a BFA in Theatre, but found the “biz” of acting not appealing.  She has since devoted herself to visual arts, and has a Certificate in Fine Art Techniques from Emily Carr.
Despite this brief foray into the acadamy, Kaya Murray considers herself to be a self-taught artist.