Sister Corita

Sister Corita

Sister Corita, who is also known as Corita Kent, was born names Frances Kent in Iowa, 1918. She lived in Los Angeles and grew up there until joining the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1936, where she took the name of Sister Mary Corita. She studied at art Immaculate Heart College and graduated from there in 1941 and then went on to teach grade school in British Columbia. However, a few years later in 1946, Corita returned to Immaculate Heart College to teach art. Whilst she was teaching at the college she was also studying at the University of Southern California, where she received her master’s degree in art history. Coincidently, this was also the year that her first silkscreen print was exhibited. Many of Corita’s earlier works were very iconographic and were also known as ‘neo-gothic’ as they showed phrases and imagery from the Bible, linking in with her religion. She rose to global fame during the 1960s and the 1970s for her vibrant and eye-catching serigraphs. As Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, she ran the Art Department right up until 1968, when she decided to leave the order and travel to Boston to continue her life there; where she would later create several commissioned pieces and serigraphs for the next eighteen years.  In Corita’s art, you can see reflections of her spirituality, her hope for there to be peace, her commitment to social justice and also her delight and wonder in the world that’s all around us. One of the main focus’ for her work in the 1960s was using pop-culture as a beginning for her work, which influenced the bursts of text and colour. Later on, she began to experiment more with watercolour, painting and also silk prints, which started to dominate her work. Whilst all this has been going on in her life, she still managed to stay active in social causes and designed many posters for billboards. Sadly, in 1986, she lost her battle with cancer and died at a friend’s home.
One common factor in Corita’s work, are the vibrant colours which stand out and the large hand-made texts. I’m quite interested in the backgrounds she uses, as they are the starting point when creating her work. I also like how negative space is used to show the type in some of her work. Another thing I like is how there isn’t a boarder and how it isn’t all contained, how some leaks off the page. I’m not usually a fan of vibrant coloured work, however, there’s something about her work which makes me think otherwise. I feel that the colour combinations go well too, there isn’t too much vibrant colour, yet there isn’t too little that it doesn’t catch your eye. I also like how you can tell the layering within her work, and how it must have been carefully thought out before, especially with the layering of colours and how they contrast with each other.