This summer has kept me busy in the best way; I’ve had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in my studio, reinventing my work, drawing, painting, and creating color studies. It felt like it was time for me to change gears and focus on bringing some different elements into my work. I’ve dived back into color theory and focusing on compositions shapes, and am already seeing how these studies are translating into my larger works. More notes on color soon.
New Work for Indian Wells
I’ve been busy preparing for the Indian Wells Arts Festival, creating lots of new work to display for next month. I love participating in art fairs because it inspires me to paint and make new things since I know I have a venue to display my paintings in, and there is an upcoming deadline. The pressure is on! It makes me feel a bit like I’m back in art school painting like crazy in preparation for a critique, and I thrive in that kind of environment. I’ll slowly be posting new paintings online and on Instagram as the festival approaches. Excited that I’ve started to make some new desert inspired landscapes! Very new for me, and a departure from my infatuation with the color green.
A statement about the recent works:
My current practice is a paradox between absence and presence.
Using watercolor or oil paint on paper, I distill a landscape down to its most essential elements and abstracted forms. The negative shapes take on a prominent role in the paintings, often creating silhouettes of human figures enmeshed in the surrounding landscape. Painterly gestures and mark-making techniques are juxtaposed with highly-rendered flora.
The process is exclusively additive, as each mark on the stark white surface cannot be erased or undone. The paintings allude to an influence of Chinese landscape painting, especially in their rhythms and intentional use of blank space, or “nothingness”. They convey “inner landscapes of the mind” more so than accurate, external ones- they are reflections of sanctuary and inner spirit. The paintings seek to highlight a sense of permanence within nature and the spiritual world, contrasted with the temporal quality of human existence.
Indian Wells Arts Festival
I am excited to announce that i have been selected as one of the artists to participate in this year’s 2019 Indian Wells Arts Festival!
“With a celebrated reputation for its high quality and wide variety of fine art and quality craft, the Festival has been ranked one of the “100 Best Fine Art Shows in the country” by Sunshine Artist magazine; “Best of the Best” by Palm Springs Life magazine; and ranked in the top 100 in both fine art fairs and fine craft shows by Greg Lawler’s Art Source Book; a Top-3 Southern California Getaway by The Examinor.”
Join me in the desert from March 29th - 31st! More details to come leading up to the event- Stay posted.
Read more online and purchase tickets at https://www.indianwellsartsfestival.com/index.html
Kevin Barry Fine Art
A few of my paintings are currently on their way to be displayed in Kevin Barry Fine Art at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica!
Kevin Barry Fine Art “is a leading international art consultancy, offering expert advice on fine art purchase and placement. [They] have been in business for over 20 years and know that an experienced fine art consultant working with high profile architects, interior designers, key private collectors, investors, and corporate, healthcare and hospitality brands can make the difference between an adequate project, and an award-winner. [Their] experts in Los Angeles, San Francisco & Las Vegas have assisted them through fine art consulting by sourcing and displaying exceptional modern and contemporary art for interior designers and are always grateful for the opportunity to work with the creative and talented members of the design community.”
More details and photos coming soon.
Post Holiday Market Sale
What a successful holiday market at Daydream Surf Shop this past Sunday! I had a great time chatting with so many new folks and it was great to see some familiar faces who came to support and get first dibs on some new work I had available for sale. Here’s a selection of some of the artwork sold this past weekend:
Stay posted for more markets, shows, and upcoming events in the New Year!
-KB
Holiday Pop Up
Tomorrow at Daydream Surf Shop! 1588 Monrovia Ave, Newport Beach, CA. Ill be out from 9am - 3pm selling original drawings, watercolors, and prints. Come swing by to support me and other local creatives, and get your last minute holiday gifts!
Discoveries in Limitation
While my recent paintings are much more minimal than I am used to, they have been some of the most difficult paintings for me to make. Many of my paintings have multitudes of layers, and mistakes can easily be hidden or painted over. The recent paintings are unforgiving; in part because of the stark white backgrounds, and that each brushstroke cannot be erased or undone. Every brushstroke is carefully considered so as to keep balance and flow within the painting as a whole. I often practice the brushstroke I want to make many, many times in the air in front of my easel before actually letting the brush touch the paper. Happy accidents often occur, and if I make a mistake, I have to incorporate it and balance the rest of the painting around it. These works on paper have been a good challenge for me in learning to limit myself down to the bare essentials, and in knowing when to stop.
Painting Process
Tell us a little about yourself and what it is that you create.
“I’ve always had a strong awareness and concern for the environment and the importance of protecting it. I also hold an immense sense of wonder for the natural world. These two things have created in me a deep reverence for nature and understanding of all life as sacred. I create oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings that are influenced by these beliefs. I sometimes mix gravel, sand, dirt, wax, or fibers into my oil paint to create sculptural moments in the paintings and incorporate tangible elements of the landscape.”
Why do you create? What inspires your work?
“My work has always been inspired by my connection to nature and to my spirituality. Painting is a way for me to process my experiences, and sometimes to hold memories close for a little longer. I paint the things I love, the things I’m moved by, the things I fear, and the things I desire. My work is about my physical and perceivable connection with our planet, and simultaneously and paradoxically, my ethereal experiences that remain intangible. ”
What’s your process like? Tell us a little about what you do.
“I record my experiences in nature in sketchbooks, as photographs, and as collected objects which I bring back into my studio. While I am painting, I am often enmeshed in a landscape of my own creation, surrounded by branches, plants, rocks, and other objects that inspire me or help me recall the particular feelings from the time I discovered them. I work directly from or with these natural objects, sketches, and photographs to create paintings that feel as if they were gleaned from the landscape. ”
The Other Art Fair
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support and see my paintings this past weekend at The Other Art Fair! What a whirlwind! I am so grateful for all the connections, new faces, and lovely artists I got the chance to meet while at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
Thursday was such a crazy rush- with my car and a van packed with all my paintings, display supplies, and tools, I drove from Orange County up to Santa Monica. I arrived at 10am to prepare and set up for the VIP opening reception that evening. However, I arrived to find that the painting crew had not finished painting my walls! I waited an additional two hours to begin hanging as the painters finished up the walls and we gave them ample time to dry. It took about 5 hours to hang and prepare everything for the opening.
The Private View opening reception was sold out and packed with curators, gallery representatives, collectors, and art lovers of all kinds. I got an overwhelming response to my paintings and made some great connections. My work “Reef” was also a part of Kate Bryan’s “31 Women” exhibition- read my previous post for more information- this mini exhibition within the fair was a big hit. I also found out that I was the youngest person exhibiting at the Fair this Fall. I couldn’t believe it!
Friday was just as busy as Thursday night, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to so many people in depth about my work. Most people were very intrigued and amazed at the amount of texture, alternative materials, and three-dimensional elements within my paintings. Friday evening was Friends and Family evening, and I was thrilled to see so many people I love come out to support me, see my paintings, and enjoy a fun evening socializing and looking at art.
The rest of the weekend was more mellow, and I could relax by my work and enjoy chatting with many interesting visitors, art lovers, art students, families, and more. I was also thrilled about getting to connect with some of the other artists in the fair! I know I will be keeping in touch with many and am excited about new artistic friendships.
I am grateful for the works that found new homes and for such an overwhelmingly positive, loving, emotional, and moving response to my paintings. I am newly inspired to paint and can’t wait to start my new body of work. I am so thankful the fair has given me newfound energy, enthusiasm, and inspiration to bring back into my studio.
Post Artober
Thanks to everyone who came out to Artober Fest at the LAB this past weekend! Such a fun event with some awesome vendors. I’m happy to have met so many new people and to have some of my original drawings and prints placed in new homes!
Some of my highlighted and sold works:
And I’m so excited about my trade with Heidiroo and her awesome stickers!! Check out her work online at http://www.heidiroo.com. She has a really sweet online shop!
31 Women
I am excited to announce that I have been selected as one of the 31 artists presenting work for Kate Bryan’s ‘31 Women’ exhibition onsite at The Other Art Fair next week!
Drawing inspiration from Peggy Guggenheim's landmark 1943 show 'Exhibition by 31 Women' and marking our 31st global edition, The Other Art Fair is dedicating a section of the Fall LA fair to rising female art stars.
Curated by Kate Bryan, Arts Broadcaster and Head of Collections for Soho House and Co. globally, 31 Women marks the 31st edition of The Other Art Fair and the 75th year anniversary of the iconic exhibition of the same name at Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery, Art of This Century.
31 women takes the form of a small exhibition within the main context of the fair, highlighting one work each by 31 female artists who are all participating in The Other Art Fair LA. This mini salon draws together sculpture, collage, neon, photography, figurative and abstract painting in the same inclusive spirit of Guggenheim’s original show.
The original 31 women took place in January 1943 at Guggenheim’s New York gallery. It was the first exhibition of its kind to highlight women artists who were largely absent from mainstream gallery and museum shows. Over 7 decades later permanent collections in museums across Europe and North America have on average only 3-5% artwork by female artists. At best you can hope to see women’s artwork around 30% of the time in a progressive gallery or institution, in most it is often far less. This exhibition is therefore part homage to Guggenheim, one of the greatest art patrons of the twentieth century, but it is also part protest against the continued male dominance of the art world today.
Artober Fest
Join me this coming Saturday, October 20th from 11 am - 3pm for Artober Fest at The LAB Anti Mall in Costa Mesa. I’ll be selling original drawings, watercolors, oil paintings, and prints! Come see art by local artists and makers, get your aura photographed, and enjoy live music! It is an all ages event and is free. Hope to see familiar faces!
Los Angeles: The Jealous Curator’s 5 Must See Artists At The Fair
I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected as one of The Jealous Curator’s 5 must-see artists at The Other Art Fair, at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles October 25th-28th. Selected by Danielle Krysa, Los Angeles selection committee member and writer/curator behind the contemporary art site The Jealous Curator. Check out the article and her selected artists online at the Saatchi Art Canvas Blog!
An Environment of Her Own
An article written about my work while Community Artist in Residence at The Bascom in Highlands, North Carolina. Published in the Laurel Magazine.
The Art of Regeneration
An article written about my work while I was Community Artist in Resident at The Bascom in Highlands, North Carolina.
Studio Play
Summer Market Reflection
Thanks to all the folks who came out to the Summer Maker's Market at Costa Mesa Ceramics this past Sunday! It was a pleasure to have my art featured alongside so many other amazing local creatives- I am grateful for the wonderful day of community and connection.
I loved getting the chance to talk to so many new people about my artwork and even made some fun art trades with other vendors. In case you missed me at this market, I will be featured in another market in Costa Mesa in October. Stay tuned for more details! Below are some highlights of sold and featured artwork:
The Other Art Fair
I'm thrilled to announce that my work has been accepted to show at The Other Art Fair this October! The show runs from October 25th-28th at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Partnered with Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair is the leading artist fair to discover and buy art direct from the very best emerging artistic talent. Stay tuned for updates and my progress in the coming months. Read more about the fair and find ticketing information on their website at http://la.theotherartfair.com
Makers Market
I will be selling some of my original artwork at a Makers Market on August 19th. Come see me and other creatives at Costa Mesa Ceramics from 2-7pm! It is a wonderful woman-owned and operated studio that extends creativity and the arts into our local community. I started doing ceramics there this past winter and am looking forward to continuing to create there.
1001 W 17th St n, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Absence and Presence
My work explores the experience of my physical body searching for a sense of spiritual integration with the landscape. Through painting I investigate the paradox of absence and presence as understood through the natural processes of growth, decomposition, and regeneration in nature. The paintings reference memento mori, a reflection on stillness and mortality.
The human figure is my starting point and inspiration. I cover over and envelop the figure through layers of paint until it is inseparable from its landscape. Part or all of the human body becomes obscured in the process, as only glimpses remain under the accumulated layers.
I use cake decorating tools to extrude oil paint onto my canvases, and mix sand, dirt, wax, and fibers into my paint in order to think of a two dimensional material as a sculptural medium. I arrange conglomerates of recycled paint skins to add dimensionality to the surface of my paintings. Ornate patterns and flowers are contrasted against flat blocks of color and gestural brushstrokes. The color relationships in my work are highly specific to seasonal changes in the landscape and are often influenced by weavings and textiles.