Jemima Kirke: Artist, Accidental TV Star
The other key part of Kirke’s non-TV life is her painting, a practice that remains unchanged, if less frequently enjoyed, from what it was before Girls. She’s a fairly traditional studio painter of portraits, explaining, “I paint people. I use oil on canvas. Mostly they sit before me and we hang out and I just listen and I look at them. I try my best to capture them just sitting there in that room on that day in that moment. Sometimes I even get a likeness. Everyone who comes in brings me something different. That’s why I never have to plan what I’m going to paint ahead of time.”
And the recent move, and recent baby, haven’t made anything easier, though between filming and baby-having, she did still manage to participate in a group show at Half Gallery last fall. “My studio is in my home. I’m still moving stuff in and setting up. My work space is so important to me. So that’s a whole project in and of itself.” Though she denies having any greater ambitions for her acting career, Jemima says of her painting, “I just want to get better and better.”