Why Not? by Kaity Cancel
“Why did you photograph that?”. I get that question lot. Most people expect some deep philosophical answer. Unfortunately I don’t have one to give. What motivates my work is simple. I do what I do because, why not. Simple possibility is what motivates me. When thinking about what to say about my body or work that is what it boils down to. These pieces were all born out of experimentation. They were created because I could, so I did. Where the idea to put my portraits together with my fine art work came from was much the same. I was curious if they would go together so I tried. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but something new was created. Experimentation doesn’t always produce positive results, but growth still happens. Whether you like my work or not I hope you see something you haven’t seen before. I hope that while you may not know the whats, wheres, and whos, you understand the why or perhaps we should call it the “why not” factor in my work.
—Smith Hall Gallery, April–May 2021