Kirsten McCory is:

Creativity & Inspiration are food, and self-expression is akin to breathing.

When I realized how powerful my imagination was and the places it could take me, I began to intentionally harness that power in the service of story. What is happening in this photograph? How will these characters get what they want? What is the emotional life of a character? And I strive to bring intentionality into everything I do.

Here’s some backstory on the modes of expression you’ll find on my website.

ACTING: I trained in the Meisner method of acting, studied Uta Hagen and Meyerhold’s Biomechanics. I’ve pursued theater more than film because I enjoy the live audience energy and dislike waiting around. I’m fascinated by all the moving parts of a theater production, and in the last couple of years started directing staged readings. My first time on stage was in a 1980’s production of the musical Oliver!

WRITING: I have my B.A. in English/creative writing emphasis from the University of Washington. I write in a style I call Melodic Prose; it emphasizes word sound, playfulness with grammar and word choice and focuses on character development. I write plays, short fiction and Surrealist Poetry. I am on currently on the 6th draft of a novella that I adapted from a radio play I started in 2011. Writing dialogue is one of my passions. My blog is CELLOPHANE My playwriting can be found at New Play Exchange.

ART MODELING: Working with artists as a muse has been a unique experience. When my daughter was 5 she and I posed for a painting in Volunteer Park in Seattle. The painter was an elderly man I’d met while he was painting a storefront display, his easel set up on Broadway taking up a parking space. The Seattle Times happened to be at the park the day he painted us so I have the watercolor of Clair and I and the photo clipping from the newspaper.

PHOTOGRAPHY: I often compose the world around me with a photographic frame in mind, and I do compulsively photograph in my daily life. I have certain visual obsessions I’ve been photographing for years, for instance groups of furniture on the side of the road, close-up flowers and mushrooms and phone booths. I studied and printed black and white and color film at The Photographic Center NW in Seattle.

Shop - GALLERY: I’ve practiced making books for more than 10 years as a way to present my zine material and some of my short fiction. I’ve improved but it continues to be a good challenge and pleasurable. Working with paper is soothing for me, and it gives me aesthetic pleasure to shop for fancy paper. 75% of my materials are recycled.