12th Street Gallery: Kaitlyn Wylde

Artist Statement: I’ve always wanted to be a painter. I’m so easily overwhelmed and moved by the things I see and feel, I dream about how they might cathartically manifest on a canvas. Alas, I am not a natural artist; my hands unsteady and my strokes unappealing. Photography helps me keep the splendor. Thanks to my photographer father, I grew up with access to cameras I could barely lift. The camera became my friend when I wasn’t ready to let go of what I was inspired by. Poetry found me through the words of Sylvia Plath in grade school. It quickly became my outlet and vital vessel to process the way I feel. I do my best to paint with words. Draw the way I feel. Capture the way I want you to feel, too.

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I try to share the way I feel with my audience. I like for them to feel moved in the same way I do so I can have that connection with them and not feel alone. Almost all of the photos in this gallery were taken in places that are neglected and beautiful… about to be torn down because there isn’t enough money to preserve them. The Merestead Estate is where the picture of the old pool and girl in the leaves were taken. It’s a gorgeous estate that’s just falling apart and can’t be maintained by the town anymore.  A sign of the times, I suppose. The photo of the man in front of a building is the Domino Sugar Factory, which is being torn down as we speak. They’re putting up hideous luxury condos. I like photographing the youth around these aging forgotten beautiful places. It seems like it’s the youth that finds beauty in weathered buildings that aren’t as beautiful as they once were.
Kaitlyn Wylde is a 26 year old freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. After a brief affair with acting and Los Angeles, she’s back to her roots, writing poetry and essays for various websites and literary journals. In her spare time she likes to wander through horse fields and dense woods with her camera and dog. She also created a poetry and music troupe called Lit Kids which she curates and performs in, monthly.