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Copyright of interview belongs to Ovenden
Contemporary (Art Promotions) Limited. Any
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(c) 2006 Ovenden Contemporary (Art Promotions)
Limited
OC: You have a very distinctive style Kaine. You seem to view humanity from an unusual perspective, in your paintings at least. Do you see humanity as an 'infection'?
KK: I’ve never really considered that humanity is an infection, as such. But I certainly think human nature suffers from infection. There’s good and bad in everyone and it comes and goes. I try to get this across in paintings like coy girl and teenage pregnancy where the innocence of the original character is temporarily infected and becomes quite ferocious. The simple germ like state of some of my paintings is more based on my belief that humanity takes itself too seriously. Instead of measuring our importance within the world on how much we earn, which religion we preach or the football club we support, we should be considering how we live with each other. Why can we live intimately with some people yet distance ourselves from so many others? Is it because of the temporary ‘infections’ we are victims of? In the 'Coalesce' paintings you can see the intentional comparisons between infected human behavior and the simple life patterns of micro organisms.
OC: If it's a 'temporary infection', the implication is that it is a curable condition?
KK: I'm an optimist! I'd like to think there was a cure. In reality though, I see that these infections come and go of their own will.
OC: Does this optimism manifest itself in your work?
KK: Not yet. Although I'am working on 4 paintings which are much more uplifting pieces. They continue the 'coy girl' and 'boy reaching out' concepts. They feature the same subjects but with more emphasis on scale and a clearer, more positive direction for the subject matter.
OC: There is already a strong element of scale in your work. You tend to do either very large canvases or very small canvases. What are the bonuses & negatives for either and how do you choose which size to use for each painting?
KK: I started using the smaller (20x20cm) canvases for practical reasons. I could complete a painting very quickly and this allowed me to try different techniques and see the finished article almost immediately. This was very important to me while I was developing my style of painting and I now quite like painting on that size. It's like a quick fix, I suppose. The problem with the smaller canvases is that it's difficult to say much on them. I find it's best to view them as a quick snapshot or a glimpse into a bigger picture. Although, when viewed as groups, you can interpret much more from them.
It's my interest in street art that pulls me towards the large canvases. Although, I must say I don't consider 90x90cm to be particularly large. I'd prefer to work on something 3 or 4 times that size, but canvases that big are expensive and time consuming. I'm still working full time and raising a young family, so working on a really large canvas is just not viable for me right now. It would take too long to complete and probably end up frustrating me. The 90x90cm is my favourite shape and size at the moment. It's big enough to have some real impact and meaning but small enough to fit on a wall in an average sized house. I made a conscious decision to put most of my work onto square canvases early on in 2005 when I started painting again, I don't like the portrait/landscape label that is attached to other shapes. Even my self-portrait is on a landscape canvas.
OC: You dislike the classification of 'landscape' or 'portrait' more than you dislike the actual format?
KK: It's a mixture of two things really. I don't like classification, in any form. I think we get so hung up on judging and grouping everything and everyone that we lose our individuality. For that reason, I like to do things differently; I'm always challenging my natural instincts and trying new things. I want my art to be as unique as possible. If someone saw one of my paintings for the first time and thought "this is different.....I like it" I'd be very happy.
OC: Is that important to you, that positive feedback? Are you unhappy when you don't get feedback?
KK: I’m always happy, after 10 am at least, whether I get feedback or not. I feel like I’m a niche product in a niche market, so to find someone who likes what I’m doing is very rewarding.
OC: So do you think you would continue to paint even if no-one ever bought your work or appreciated it? Would you change artistic direction perhaps?
KK: I hope that I will always create art. It’s the only thing that’s been constantly there throughout my life. I can rely on it. Like I said before, I like trying new things and different techniques, so I probably would change direction, but not so much you couldn’t tell it was one of my paintings. Besides, I think my wife would divorce me if I carried on painting without selling any!
OC: That last comment is an interesting one
Kaine. The desire to pursue artistic success or
recognition, beyond the realms of hobby at least,
is frequently incompatible with the need to
sustain an income or raise a family, as it
requires so much time and, more importantly,
concentration. Many celebrated Artists, even in
the 21st Century, are childless or famously
rubbish at conducting family life (think Freud
& Emin for example). Is it too much of a
compromise to make? Does it have to be one thing
or the other?
KK: My family is an integral part of my
creativity. They are the influence behind much of
my work. Making the transition from hobbyist to
self-sufficient artist with little or no
compromise is the difficulty, especially when it
comes to maintaining a regular income. But
that’s where Ovenden Contemporary comes in!
OC:
So what do you want from your OC experience? What
are your long-term goals?
KK: I want to find people who like my work, to
find people that will buy my work. I want to
exhibit my work and feel like I’m an
Artist. When my Ovenden Contemporary experience
comes to end, I want to be able to paint full
time, to create artwork for an album cover, to
feature in a Taschen book and to have successful
solo shows. But mostly, when people ask me what I
do for a living, I want to be able to truthfully
say…
“I’m an Artist”.
OC:
You already can Kaine. Thank you for the
insight.