Kiandra Buchanan’s focus is still life and figurative works. The work is representational, leaning into realism, though texture and expressive brushwork are at the forefront. She likes to work with open compositions that are a little left of centre, bright light and a modern palette. Her practice speaks of softness and intimacy, our inner worlds, the beauty of the everyday and finding a refreshed perspective amongst the ordinary.
Kiandra Buchanan’s works celebrate the materiality of paint, displaying its translucent and opaque properties within the one painting. The artworks are mostly completed in the Alla Prima or wet on wet method, allowing greater manipulation of the paint layers and textures. This also better enables the work to be an immediate response to the subject and the emotion of the scene.
Buchanan’s subjects are chosen to build a story around a thought or feeling. They are a glimpse into ones inner world, and state of mind, soft and intimate they look at the beauty and banality of the everyday. How one perceives and connects to the world around them is her greatest source of inspiration. Her works feature negative space, room for rest and thought, in the hopes that the viewer will pause and seek their own personal connection and meaning with the subjects.