After writing my dissertation on zines, punk, riot grrrl and feminism, I found myself booking myself a tattoo of a Margaret Kilgallen drawing. Although, not looked at or even mentioned in my dissertation, Margaret Kilgallen is of huge importance and influence to me, both as an artist and as a woman. For those of you who don't know, she was an artist who believed in the touch of the human hand. All those beautifully crafted handmade shop signs that she so frequently saw inspired her greatly, and influenced the way she painted herself. She made many paintings of things including women surfing/skating, trees, nature, small shops, people, faces and hand made typography - howver 'printed' it looked, it was all done by her fingertips! (and a paintbrush!)
She painted everywhere: paper, canvas, wood, walls inside, walls outside, trains, cars, skateboards, cd covers....
She fell pregnant in 2001 and at the same time found out she had cancer. To save her baby, she refused chemotherepy and tragically passed away 2 weeks after giving birth to her child.
She will live on through her work. RIP Margaret.
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