Over the last couple of years I have been driving my paintings in an innovative new direction. After exhaustive research and experimentation, I have found myself drawn to the age-old idea of portraiture, but with a twist. I am intrigued by the idea of obscuring the eyes of the subjects in my paintings, something I started in my early work and have continued to carry with me as I evolve. — 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.

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.

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. 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. Kincaide presents a world where dreams can become reality, and even surpass it.