Capturing Timelessness: Colleen Kenyon’s Enchanting Twin Sister Portrait from 1977

The artist Colleen Kenyon captured this new year portrait of her identical twin sibling Kathleen in 1977. During that time, both embarked on a collective creative journey that placed them at the leading edge of feminist artists eager to reclaim and reinterpret “craft” abilities, utilizing photomontage and hand-colouring methods to honor and satirize traditionally “domestic” forms of artistic expression, such as scrapbooking. Over the ensuing 25 years, the twins, born in 1951, engaged in this practice at the Center for Photography at Woodstock in upstate New York, where Colleen was appointed executive director in 1981 and her sister joined her as associate director. Together, they cultivated the exhibition space and a series of workshops, positioning the institution as a key player in promoting women in the arts, as well as artists of color.

Their own unique photographic concepts evolved both separately and collaboratively during those years. Colleen concentrated on intricate print-making techniques and meticulous hand-colouring of feminine portraits, while Kathleen explored her fascination with collage, frequently manipulating mass-produced representations of women to impart a sharp comic or political flavor. The sisters often delved into themes of duplication and twinship – their scholarly parents had adorned them in identical clothing until they turned 10, when they each insisted on choosing their own styles – and their art investigates their intertwined genetics and distinct personalities in various manners.

Colleen Kenyon passed away in 2022, followed by Kathleen a year later; however, Kathleen had essentially ceased her artistic endeavors after a car accident outside the gallery in 2003, which resulted in life-altering injuries. Both women faced dementia in their final decade, residing in the same room at an assisted living facility. A new retrospective catalog of their work, My Sister, My Self, will accompany an exhibition at the newly refurbished and expanded CPW which they helped establish.