Faces in the Process of Becoming: An Interview with Artist Kay Kantor by Georgia Stewart

Looking at a tired, depressive expression painted in the colors of summer and joy evokes
confusion in this contradictory composition. Confronted with the conflicting feelings of starting a new life but also leaving her old one behind, Kay returned to a familiar face in Mask. This character has followed Kay across different media over the years, with her faces serving as emotional markers that have grown and evolved with her.

This week, I spoke with Kay Kantor about her work and its evolution over time. Kay Kantor is a 23-year-old Delray-based artist from Connecticut, who spent four years in Florence studying fashion marketing before moving to Florida to focus on her art. Hesitant to study fine art while in Florence, Kay remains primarily self-taught. Kay grew up in an isolated small town. Not being exposed to much art, she drew most of her early inspiration from the cartoons she watched as a child, and this influence has carried over into her work. In recent years, Kay’s has shifted her focus back to her series of painted wood-cut-out heads, characters originally created in middle and high school, aiming to create what she wants rather than what she thinks the viewer will enjoy. Kay has found that her return to authenticity has brought more opportunities than she expected.

These faces have been in development for over a decade. Instead of representing real people, Kay paints distorted emotional states. She starts with no intended meaning or depicted emotion. Kay finds that meaning reveals itself in the process and solidifies by the end, aligning with the mental state she was in when creating it. Because of this, these faces serve as emotional records of Kay’s life, fluctuating with her experiences. These pieces can’t be viewed as completely separate works; they are iterations of the same evolving figure shaped by the artist’s experiences. Rather than expressing identity individually, these faces track it over time.

Studying abroad in Florence marked a turning point in Kay’s development. Prior to and during this experience, Kay’s style was audience-oriented, as she felt pressured to create moody, dark, aesthetic paintings to appeal to wider audiences. After experiencing art in Florence and Florida, Kay felt inspired to return to her personal style. Her work returned to the expressive, colorful, and bold pieces we see today. Instead of pressuring Kay to conform, her new exposure to different art pushed her to look inwards.

“While creating this piece, I felt an intense desire for change in my life, a pull to emerge into a different version of myself.” 

Throughout the difficult and sometimes refreshing changes in Kay’s life, she has used her work to express her emotions, and these pieces have become a timeline of her emotions as a result. During her first solo exhibition in Brooklyn, this took form in a chronological design that allowed viewers to walk through the story of her artistic growth. In Blue Lagoon, Kay expresses a desire for change; in Mask, she expresses her discomfort with this change as it comes into fruition; and in Forest Fairy, Kay reflects on the past and the imaginative aspect of childhood. This focus on time, change, and the bittersweetness of coming into age creates a relatable reminder that growth is not clean, it's conflicting, layered, and unresolved. Kay allows us to see her growth through her work, while leaving space for viewers to form their own connections through ambiguity.

“This piece was a homage to my inner child. Beginning in my early 20s, I started to find her again. She loved fairies and the outdoors, and in my imagination, this is what fairies looked like as a character in this realm.” 

Kay is now entering a new phase of heightened intention in her practice. She has been working towards more planning through research on materials and process and testing new methods in order to develop a more structured process. In the future, Kay desires to have another solo show, but this time with more planning, with fewer, more impactful pieces. With her recent relocation to Florida, Kay is focusing on building her new body of work and connecting with other creatives in her community. 

At first glance, Kay’s faces are confusing, representing emotions in distorted, conflicting ways. The faces are playful, yet uncomfortable, and this instability is what makes Kay’s faces

feel alive and shift meaning with each encounter. These faces don’t just represent Kay through her emotions; they represent a person in the process of becoming. Instead of resolving into a single identity, these faces and characters continue to shift, remaining in a state of change. 

See more of Kay Kantor on her Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube @iamkayjosie

 See archive work, work for sale, and merch at https://iamkayjosie.com/

By Georgia Stewart