Karina and Me is a limited edition Lithograph chosen for the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair 2023, one of the largest Contemporary print fairs in Europe. In Karina and Me, Isabella Tessier explores the relationship between herself and the image of a dancer, Karina, from a 1898 mutoscope film reel, found at the Library of Congress digital archives.
The print is part of the Karina Series, a body of work made ‘in collaboration’ with the dancer that explores dance and movement as a veichle for freedom and escapism from the voyersitic gaze and documentation of the male veiw. In Karina and Me, the two figures are shown reaching out to each other, one appears to be Karina and the other, the artist. In the context of the Karina Series the icons to symbolise dancer and artist are swapped within the print, Karina’s face with the loose trousers of the artist, the dress and pose of Karina with the artist’s head.