kensise
anders

Kensise Anders was born in Haiti, (HT), in 1997. She lives and works in Vienna, (AT).

Kensise Anders studies “painting in context“ at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Anders has created a unique artistic practice in which crocheting techniques, painting, sculpture and performance blend in one another. She began her career on social media accounts on which she created her own content, presented crocheted objects, performances and anti-fashion, reflecting on meme culture, racism and post-migrant identity.

During her time at the academy, Anders has developed a special technique for her paintings: She crochets wool threads in various shades, lengths and color combinations and applies them to the canvas like brushstrokes. The effect is both painterly and sculptural. Recently Anders has ‘adopted’ freaky dolls, giving them new appearances in her series “Entry Void”. The figures in Kensise Anders’ paintings are often isolated and defenceless in bright empty colorfields. She uses allusions to Color Field painting as well as the racist-charged motif of the black doll to address the existentialist idea that we are thrown into life without consent. The ‘void’ can be social circumstances, the family, but also the freedom to rebel in the face of meaninglessness. Beyond the discourses on racism, identity, and visibility, Anders’ works are also about fundamental, existential states. The acceptance that existence is finite, the confrontation with one’s death is combined with the realization that one cannot choose when and where one is born.