Quiescence - Kirsty Mitchell (unreleased)
“Quiescence refers to a prolonged period of quietness or stillness. Often used in human biology as a term given to the dormancy of cells which enter a state of inactivity, but retain the ability to divide and effectively return to life again with the right stimuli.”
Quiescence is the latest undertaking of world-renowned fine art photographer, Kirsty Mitchell, following on from her multi-award winning book, ‘Wonderland’.
Like Wonderland, ‘Quiescence’ is inspired by Kirsty’s personal experiences; in this case the challenging events between 2015 - 2018 when shortly after the birth of her first and only child, Finch, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Just as ‘Wonderland’ enabled Kirsty to journey through the early years of grief from losing her own beloved mother Maureen to cancer, turning her pain into something both darkly beautiful and emotionally compelling; so too has Kirsty explored those difficult and intense emotions of early motherhood contrasting with navigating her cancer journey in the photographic stories and written journals for ‘Quiescence’.
Back in 2018 Masters & Munn received a call from Matt Stevenson, Kirsty’s husband and creative partner, asking André if there was any way of making what Kirsty had been told by many other artists was ‘an impossible sculptural prop’ for her new photo series.
Not only could André already show Matt photos of something he’d already made using the exact technique needed for this so-called impossibility, but Masters & Munn were able to send Kirsty details of three different methods they could potentially use to create her challenging vision. It was at this point that Kirsty and Matt knew they’d found just the right people to help with this incredibly exciting venture and a new bond was formed between the two couples.
“When the call came in, I couldn’t contain my excitement. We’d been a huge admirer of Kirsty’s work for years, and knew her creative style, attention to detail and wonderful storytelling skills matched so well to our own way of working. But what none of us realised back then were the curious connections that went deeper than that.
We found out in our first few communications with each other, that Kirsty and I had grown up in neighbouring villages, attended the same schools, and had even had the same art teachers!
We were a couple of years apart in age and to the best of our knowledge never met before we worked together on this project, but we had so many shared frames of reference, lives running in parallel for a long time - even the same favourite obscure storybooks as children inspiring our artwork. It was only natural that we would become good friends.
The fact that Matt and André have found just as much affinity with each other is another blessing and the four of us feel such joy to have found each other.
Working with Kirsty and Matt on ‘Quiescence’ has been such an honour and has challenged us all in so many ways. It is very much a supporting role to enable Kirsty to realise her creative dreams; but our pool of talents and symbiotic working relationship has meant we could all grow together - push our skills to the limits, learn new things, dream bigger and more beautiful dreams.
We can’t wait to be able to show you what we’ve made for Kirsty and the astounding things she has done with them as well as her own magically beautiful creations. In a world now taken over by computer-generated, AI imagery, people are going to be astounded not only by Kirsty’s new photographs but the detailed behind-the-scenes cinematic ‘making of’ footage of every other-worldly vision created by Kirsty and her incredible team, of which we feel so incredibly privileged to be a part.”
Kirsty Mitchell discussing prop development for Quiescence.
The creation of that first challenging prop by Masters & Munn, lead to them being asked to create several more key sculptural props and even large, complex dramatic sets; working directly with Kirsty and Matt on location during the complex and intense photoshoots that have become ‘Quiescence’.
Kirsty has described Masters and Munn as the two people she and Matt trust most with their creative work besides each other as they care as much about her work as if it is their very own project.
Kirsty’s incredible fantasy photographs have formed part of the inspiration for Masters & Munn’s new sculptural work-in-progress, ‘Anam Cara’.
“My design had been turned down by the best fabrication studio in London who told me it was impossible. Masters and Munn proved otherwise, and spent months meticulously crafting my vision to such perfection that they have since become part of my permanent team.
No job is beyond them, and their combined experience in fine art and sculpture means they effortlessly understand exactly what I need and will always find a solution. The duo have also become valuable crew members on my photoshoots, helping build sets on location and assisting in a multitude of artistic ways . Above all they are professional and truly lovely people to work with. I truly can't recommend them enough and feel very lucky I found them.”
— Kirsty Mitchell
We wait with baited breath for the first photographs in the Quiescence series to be officially released when we can share much more of this incredible creative adventure with you.
For those who’d like to find out more, please sign up to our mailing list at the bottom of the page and visit Kirsty’s website.