what do you want from me?
Works by Kevin Isgett
Event Types: Visual Arts
Jul 28, 2023 10:00 AM — Sep 7, 2023 5:00 PM
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Contact Information
Metropolitan Arts Council
(864) 467-3132
[email protected]https://www.greenvillearts.com/Details
Artist Statement
After completing an MFA degree in abstract painting, I was ready to do something different. Portraits had fascinated me for some reason. I’d been drawing faces all my life, but besides the head drawing class I took in graduate school, I had never studied portrait painting. Early American folk portraits from the 1700-1800s especially interested me. Drawn to their awkward proportions and childlike qualities, I decided to focus on non-academic models of portraiture and to embrace the self-taught qualities of the folk artist. I try to unlearn rules that I’ve been taught. It excites me to paint portraits that I make up as I go along. It’s like meeting someone completely unexpected. I don’t like preplanning of any sort in my artwork, so there are no sketches or photos to work from. The journey of finding my subject as I paint is what interests me. My goal is not to make something weird, but something weirdly familiar and personal. Working in acrylic makes it easy to alter pieces that are not working. Most paintings have at least 2-3 other versions buried underneath. I usually know a painting is finished when it has its own sense of presence and speaks to me personally in some way.
Dark Cloud Hovering.
Artist Bio
I had little training in art making before college, but I liked to draw. I remember seeing my grandmother’s neighbor’s bedroom walls covered in clown paintings he had done. I somehow knew I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I received a degree in Art Education, and eventually an MFA in Abstract Painting. I taught for 14 years as an art professor at the Bob. I’ve shown work in several galleries. Been in some shows. I’ve won a handful of awards and am in a few collections.
I’m still creating at home in my garage.
And I’m ok with that.
