a fairy tale world, tinged with darkness"
The Wonderland Series
”What started as a desperate distraction from the pain of reality, led to a dramatic turning point in my career, and consequently my entire life
‘Wonderland’ is created in memory of the artist’s mother Maureen Mitchell, an English teacher who died of cancer in November 2008. In the months that followed her tragic loss, Kirsty fell into a deep depression. Struggling to cope with the demands of her job as a fashion designer and overwhelmed by grief, she found sanctuary in the woodlands that surrounded her home in the English countryside. Here, she began creating pictures filled with fantasy, colour, sadness and longing as a form of personal escape through the portal of her camera.
”What started as a desperate distraction from the pain of reality, led to a dramatic turning point in my career, and consequently my entire life
‘Wonderland’ is created in memory of the artist’s mother Maureen Mitchell, an English teacher who died of cancer in November 2008. In the months that followed her tragic loss, Kirsty fell into a deep depression. Struggling to cope with the demands of her job as a fashion designer and overwhelmed by grief, she found sanctuary in the woodlands that surrounded her home in the English countryside. Here, she began creating pictures filled with fantasy, colour, sadness and longing as a form of personal escape through the portal of her camera.
The Wonderland Book
The record-breaking, award-winning Wonderland book features all seventy-four pieces in the Wonderland collection, accompanied by extensive behind the scenes photos from the shoots and costume galleries of the pieces made by Kirsty. Created in collaboration with renowned British book designer Stuart Smith, the Wonderland book is made from the finest materials and printed in Italy, at one of the most esteemed book factories in the world.
The Wonderland Book
The record-breaking, award-winning Wonderland book features all seventy-four pieces in the Wonderland collection, accompanied by extensive behind the scenes photos from the shoots and costume galleries of the pieces made by Kirsty. Created in collaboration with renowned British book designer Stuart Smith, the Wonderland book is made from the finest materials and printed in Italy, at one of the most esteemed book factories in the world.
“Mitchell created ‘Wonderland’ not only as an artistic expression, but to help people cope and process their own emotions, as well as to create a dialogue about grief.”
CNN Style
About the Artist
About the Artist
Kirsty Mitchell is a British fine art photographer and multi-faceted artist who draws on her past careers in fashion design and costume making, to produce images of beguiling dream-like worlds. Her work is entirely real, taking months to meticulously hand make the costumes, props and sets.
Early in her career Kirsty interned at the studios of the British avant garde designers Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. She then spent the next decade as a fashion designer specialising in surface decoration and fabric manipulation. In later years Kirsty rediscovered her passion for photography embarking on a new and deeply emotional connection with the medium during the treatment of her mother’s terminal cancer in 2008. This turning point in her life became the catalyst to becoming a full time artist and producing her now revered series and best selling book ‘Wonderland’.
Kirsty Mitchell is a British fine art photographer and multi-faceted artist who draws on her past careers in fashion design and costume making, to produce images of beguiling dream-like worlds. Her work is entirely real, taking months to meticulously hand make the costumes, props and sets.
The new series ‘Quiescence’ is inspired by the events in Kirsty’s personal life between 2015- 2017, during which time she gave birth to her only child and 8 months later was diagnosed with breast cancer.
‘Quiescence’
‘Quiescence’
”'Quiescence' is a story that is autobiographical, inspired by biology, maternal power, life and mortality, but as always takes the form of a fantastical tale.
The project was conceived as a concept during some of darkest years of my life between 2015 – 2018 . Following the success of Wonderland and the birth of my son Finch, within a matter of months my entire existence went into freefall when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2016. My transition to motherhood had been difficult, but now any kind of future became unimaginable as I entered a period in which the days blurred into hopelessness and I simply wanted to disappear.
”'Quiescence' is a story that is autobiographical, inspired by biology, maternal power, life and mortality, but as always takes the form of a fantastical tale.
The project was conceived as a concept during some of darkest years of my life between 2015 – 2018 . Following the success of Wonderland and the birth of my son Finch, within a matter of months my entire existence went into freefall when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2016. My transition to motherhood had been difficult, but now any kind of future became unimaginable as I entered a period in which the days blurred into hopelessness and I simply wanted to disappear.
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Our Sponsors
Three Legged Thing have kindly provided us with top-of-the-range tripods for our shoots.
https://www.3leggedthing.com/
Lupo (Italy) have kindly provided us with top-of-the-range LED lighting for our shoots.
https://lupo.it/en/
Think Tank Photo have provided us with their signature camera and equipment bags for shooting on location.
https://www.thinktankphoto.com/
Lupo (Italy) have kindly provided us with top-of-the-range LED lighting for our shoots.
https://lupo.it/en/
Three Legged Thing have kindly provided us with top-of-the-range tripods for our shoots.
https://www.3leggedthing.com/
Think Tank Photo have provided us with their signature camera and equipment bags for shooting on location.
https://www.thinktankphoto.com/