Kilmany-Jo Liversage aka Orda (b. 1973)
With street art being one of the most talked about genres today, some struggle to differentiate the Banksy’s from the bunch. No surprise then that super talented artist Kilmany-Jo Liversage aka Orda has taken her outstanding portfolio a step further with street art as the key influence. The result is a body of work that is edgy and energetic but also very hang-able.
With a list of achievements between 1995 and now, including a Sasol New Signatures Award in 2000 and a UNESCO bursary in 2005 as well as an artists’ residency in Colombia, Kilmany-Jo has had the opportunity to explore and interpret the concept of street art in a unique way.
She uses traditional aerosol sprays to create works that redefine identities as a mark of contemporary life. The result is a body of large, colourful paintings that is clearly rooted in the street but simultaneously boasts superior sophistication.
About her most recent series of portraits the artist issued the following statement:
“During the Machine Age, artists would reduce their compositions to its smallest constituent parts. With my current paintings I manufacture this deconstruction by combining the painting tradition of portraiture with idiosyncrasies from the urban culture of tagging. This enables me to explore the intersection between street art and fine art while reconstructing them into a new genre of portraiture.” - Kilmany-Jo Liversage.