‘Shape of Thought’ by Kira Degree: Visualizing How Thoughts & Emotions are Carried in the Body

Pia Diamandis -

Bali based Russian artist Kira Degree held her solo show Shape of Thought at Orbital Dago, Bandung at the end of 2023. The show featured abstract oil on canvas paintings done in fleshy colours as a reflection of how thoughts: emotions and mental states manifests themselves in the body. In psychology, this phenomenon is studied as psychosomatics, in which mental conditions can either affect someone’s physique for better or for worse. A study published in 2023 by the Wiley Online Library also found that somatoforms, physical illnesses that coincide with excessive and negative thoughts, emotions and behaviours, affects 31 percent of childhood and adolescent psychiatry patients.

Kira Degree at her exhibit Shape of Thought. Image courtesy of @kira_degree/Instagram.

Despite this prevalence, nine out of ten people in the United Kingdom still find themselves faced with strong stigma around mental health, which has proven to have negative effects on their physical health. Hence, Degree’s paintings are able to help her audiences understand psychosomatics better. So that they understand the importance of managing and prioritizing mental health care, all in order to have a better experience with their physical health. This is why Shape of Thought by Kira Degree is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being.

Interesting Period by Kira Degree, part of her exhibit Shape of Thought. Image courtesy of @kira_degree/Instagram.

Degree frequently shares that to create these abstract paintings, she employs a process that she has named Product of Intellectual Performance (POIP). For her, POIP is about intuitively drawing her thoughts, emotions and feelings as she is able to visualize them before they are even verbalized, both externally and internally. “Like a diary. Only instead of recognizable images I use associative elements,” writes Degree on her process. Hence, the creation of paintings like Interesting Period and Childhood Memory where Degree intuitively draws her thoughts, using her body as a conduit so that she is able to depict exactly how her body feels specific memories that have been mentioned in the piece’s title.

Kira Degree explaining her process titled Product of Intellectual Performance (POIP). Image courtesy of @kira_degree/Instagram.

In Shape of Thought, Kira Degree offers a compelling exploration of how emotions and mental states manifest physically through her abstract, introspective artworks. By incorporating the concept of psychosomatics, her paintings emphasize the deep connection between mental and physical health, urging viewers to reflect on their inner emotional landscapes. Through her unique creative process, Product of Intellectual Performance (POIP), Degree visualizes her thoughts and emotions in raw, associative forms, turning the abstract into something tangible. 

Find out more about Shape of Thought and other initiatives by Kira Degree on her Instagram @kira_degree.