In this first-person article, portrait artist Kirstin Mackinnon explores how painting may be viewed through a gendered lens
Kirstin, who graduated in 2023, is currently on a three-year residency with Tighnabruaich Art Gallery and is working on a commission from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, to be unveiled in April. She reached the semi-finals of Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year 2024, and her work has been exhibited widely.
Over to you, Kirstin.
Since studying Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone, I developed an interest in how painting may be viewed through a gendered lens. Around two thirds of undergraduate art students in the UK are women, yet most of the art we see in galleries was made by men.
Historically, women faced significant barriers to entering the art world, including exclusion from life drawing classes. As a result, some media, such as textiles, are viewed as feminine, while painting appears to be considered a masculine medium.
My pieces Co-sleeping is a significant painting for me because, at the time, I considered it something of a guilty pleasure.
The reason I felt this way is because I had been warned in the past against painting children or animals, as these subjects can be viewed sentimentally. This portrait shows two of my nieces sleeping beside each other. I wanted to capture a sense of vulnerability and human connection. I believe a sleeping subject provides a pose that is natural, exposed, raw and unfiltered.
Women painters throughout history were often confined to the home. Berthe Morisot, along with many others, painted domestic scenes which featured interior spaces, women and children. Painting and sculpture were regarded as superior artforms, reserved for men, so many women artists did not receive adequate recognition during their lifetimes. To this day, there is still an air of masculinity associated with portrait painting.
Some of my previous paintings, such as A Painter Worth Taking Seriously? (a self-portrait in which I present myself with a beard and holding my palette) addressed this issue. The shift from painting confrontational pieces like that, to painting this intimate, vulnerable portrait of children, was seemingly at odds with my previous work.
But I believe this piece resonates with viewers because it is deeply personal and honest.
I didn’t paint it in response to art-world gender inequality, but for my family and me. In doing so, I was breaking a perceived rule which I believed would protect me from appearing ‘too feminine’ and sentimental. Reflecting on this, I consider the choice to paint anything I want as an act of defiance. For me, this painting is both personal and universal, which makes it particularly special.
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