| About the Artist | |
Dr. Caroline Joan (“Kay”) Picart grew up in the Philippines; her father has a Filipino-French-American ancestry, and her mother, a Filipino-Chinese-Spanish background. Kay is a philosopher and former molecular biologist educated in the Philippines, Cambridge, England, and the U.S., and the author and co-author of thirteen published and forthcoming books on German Romantic philosophy and literature, and Frankensteinian horror, science fiction, Holocaust, and comedic films, cultural studies and DanceSport, as well as numerous academic and popular journal articles. She has taught in the Philippines, England, South Korea and various parts of the U.S. in the fields of Biology, Philosophy, Film and English for 21 years. Kay has had 14 years of ballet training, and has been competing and teaching ballroom dance since 1991, across Cambridge, England; Seoul, South Korea, and various parts of the US. In 2006, after being consistently ranked second nationally for a year and a half (she won second, consistently, with three different partners, since she started competing in 2005), Kay won the 2006 US Open Pro Am Championship in Theatre Arts/Cabaret (a mix of ballroom, ballet, and gymnastics), where at least 40 countries competed for various world titles in ballroom dance. See http://www.carolinekaypicart.com/video.html for streamed footage of her dancing; and http://www.carolinekaypicart.com/honors/dance.html for still photos of her numerous dance commitments, including invited lectureships on dance and movement. Learn more about Dr. Picart from her entry on First Filipina. As an artist, her work has been sold, exhibited, and featured at various galleries and events in the Philippines, South Korea, England, and various parts of the U.S.; several of her pieces are owned by UNICEF. She was the first Filipino woman painter to have an exhibit in Seoul, South Korea in September, 1992, and established the International Artists and Poets Society when she was in Seoul from 1992-1993. An article by Son Key Young published in the Korea Times described her work in the following way: “Her study of biology during her undergraduate days gave her a surgeon’s precision allowing her to unearth social illness as well as to depict nature’s awesomeness. . . Her pen and ink paintings . . . capture subtle moments of the powerful kick of a ballerina and the glamour of a group dance, which are remnants of her two decades of ballet practice, another surprise in her career. She seems to have developed a unique mastery in stippling technique or pointillism, extensively used by neo-impressionist painters like Georges Seurat . . . By using three or four layers in her pastels, her fingers created a unique harmony of blue and green, two colors which are extensively employed in her pastels. Serenity and mobility co-exist in her pastel paintings as rough sea waves hit seaside rocks. . . ” The Philippine Embassy at Seoul issued the following endorsement of her work: “ . . . Ms. Picart’s pieces are experiments in the exploitation of light and shadow as well as form and texture. Her attention to fine detail reveals her earlier scientific background as a biologist and pre-medical student, with its heavy stress on precision and accuracy. On the other hand, her sensitivity to the creation of concept, mood, atmosphere and emotion are reflective of her former studies in the humanities, as well as her background as a philosopher. . . The Embassy is indeed happy to see Ms. Picart’s works duly appreciated for their artistic value and reflection of the many talents of the Filipino woman.”
Currently, Kay has worked on projects that integrate her visual art with her interests in ballroom dance and in autoethnographic and creative writing. She has produced five video shorts, all through grants from the Institute of Race & Ethnicity, University of Wisconsin; the Pennsylvania State University; St. Lawrence University; Florida State University, and Swarthmore College. Her work has been featured in Qualitative Inquiry (2002), a prestigious journal in Sociology and Psychology; an innovative and groundbreaking book co-edited by Carolyn Ellis and Arthur Bochner, Ethnographically Speaking: Autoethnography, Literature, Aesthetics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002). An annual TV program she has directed and scripted, via the sponsorship of FSU's Global Gatherings, lasted from 2001 till 2008. In 2008, the Global Gatherings TV show, which was expanded to become a two-hour show, was part of the range of artistic and cultural events open to the public, in keeping with the 33rd Annual FSU Film and Literature Conference. Kay constantly performs for various local fundraising benefits, such as the AIDS benefit sponsored by MAC, and numerous U.S.A Dance events. She has traveled nationally as a "Philippine National Treasure."
See her entry under the Big Bend Filipino American Association “Ang Galing” section, which features the accomplishments of selected members, here: http://www.home-owners-assoc.com/bbfaa/page.html?page_id=77 She was featured in The Variety Show of America in July 2006. Kay does her best to support various public fundraising causes, thus performing for the Cancer Research Foundation, the Rotary Club of Tallahassee, the Lion's Club of Tallahassee, among others. Kay is known for her innovative combinations of art and dance demonstrations, as her public performances and art gallery openings illustrate. Kinaesthetics LLC's latest venture is The Dr. Caroline (Kay) Picart Show, which has acquired, on average, over to two million listeners, nationally and internationally, per month.
For recent photos of her featured in the Tallahassee Democrat, refer to: Dr. Picart has recently joined the Healing Arts Alliance | |