Professional Practices (ART 399)

Author/Artist Name

• Kara Buchanan, Murray State UniversityFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Junior

Date of Creation

Spring 5-6-2026

Artist Statement

The National Library of Medicine reports that 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused

before the age of 18, and 81% of women in substance abuse detox centers report sexual abuse in their earlier years. Throughout my work I showcase the naivety and innocence of girlhood and how it can be tainted into hypersexuality and addiction in adult life.

With my work, I express difficult feelings and scenarios through a childlike, girly,

and whimsical lens. In scenarios of child sexual abuse and early addiction, there is a complicated combination of guilt, nostalgia for a time that never really existed, and desire. Although you don’t want those things to happen to you, without them you can feel undesirable or less than, which only adds to the cyclical nature of abuse. You continue to seek out that “high,” whether it be from drugs, sexual partners, or a reversion to a childlike state.

I work with a variety of fabrics, textures, and materials; as well as, what I call, a

“birthday party” color palette. Since I want my work to have an early 2000s, princessy, nostalgic feel; I use soft pinks, purples, blues, and yellows to give off a warm, fun tone to the immediate viewer. I often look to Maddie Duda as artistic inspiration, as she uses similar imagery and themes to me; I also heavily look to her textile pieces and how she uses color, layering, and texture throughout her work. Throughout my work, there is repeated imagery of fawns and deer to symbolize the innocence of young girls during childhood. It is important to me that while the work appears cute and whimsical, it is not mistaken for, or accidentally portraying, a romanticization or fetishization of these sensitive topics.

My work is typically autobiographical. I pull from memories of my childhood as

well as frequent imagery I was influenced by at a young age. I also reference old picture albums, diaries, baby books, toys, and other memorializing items of the time. Imagery of cigarettes is also repeated throughout my work. Substance abuse and smoking coincides with, not only my own, but many young girls, experience with sexual abuse and embarrassment. Children are heavily impacted by watching their parents, or other people with power over them, smoke as kids. It starts arguments, ruins trips, destroys your walls and your clothes, and damages your confidence. However, substances are also used as tools of manipulation and coercion into sexual acts from adults. This creates a blanket of embarrassment over the victim all the time. As the years go on, you can even find yourself turning to the exact same vices, becoming exactly what you swore you’d never be or relying on the exact vices used to hurt you. While in adulthood addiction is still embarrassing, there’s an additional layer of guilt for all of it.

I use a lot of markmaking in my work because I feel that the expressive quality of

the lines enhances the emotions being portrayed. Through lithography I am able to achieve a hand-drawn storybook quality that plays into the childlike aspects of my work. I also use screenprinting to build and layer color, and play with different fabrics and textures, in fun and childlike ways as well. The moments of play are just as important in my work as the structured and prepared elements. I incorporate elements of space through implied surroundings; while I don’t render entire environments for my figures, I use simple or abstracted elements to give them a space to exist in. I like to incorporate a range of values while maintaining monochromatic or analogous color palettes.

Advisor/Mentor

Nicole Hand-Bryant; Lu Colby; Mike Martin

Description

Kara Buchanan is a printmaking emphasis with a focus on screenprinting and occasionally lithography. This portfolio spreads across her 3 years at Murray State so far, and shows the growth into their current conceptual work. Since their first semesters they have been working with ideas of womanhood, addiction, and current events. However, only recently were they able to tie these ideas together. 

Buchanan’s current body of work focuses on naivety and innocence in girlhood and how those topics can lead to hypersexuality and addiction later in life. 

Photo Credit

Kara Buchanan

Recommended Citation

Buchanan, Kara, "Professional Practices (ART 399)" (2026). Professional Practices (ART 399). 200.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/200