Two weeks away from my 2nd Solo Show in St. Paul
I did not have any idea when I was growing up in New Mexico that I would some how end up in Minnesota.
Compulsory heterosexuality also had me believing that there wasn’t a world in which I’d be married to my sweet Vaimo though, so change is possible.
One thing I did hope for though, was to one day have chickens in the country.
And the 12 new hens we introduced to our flock this spring are bringing me many joys.
I never imagined that I would be painting my chickens into works that would be on display in museums and galleries across the country.
But, I also never dreamt I’d be a painter, so really this is your lesson on how queer theory encourages everyone to be wary of static identity categories.
I say all of this to share my body of work emerging and coming together for this solo show is in that spirit, trying to name something but also not wishing to essentialize it.
As an out queer person living in rural Minnesota this series explores moments of wonder, awe, and curiosity as I go about my country life. These small scale paintings serve as my way to feel kinship in a space where I don’t always feel safe, and allow me to reckon with the natural and manufactured environments in which I am currently embedded.
I’m nothing if not consistent in exploring our relationship to the spaces around us. It is truly my favorite subject to noodle in scholarship, in writing, and now in paint.
This collection of paintings are purposefully small - partly to play with the notion of scale of the outdoors, but also because to face the complicated relationship I have to my environment I needed to confine that energy to smaller surfaces.
As I’ve spoken about earlier, my rural home is filled with so much possibility, beauty, and freedom.
But there are also some real scary times out here - times that I don’t like to talk too much, or give too much energy - needless to say, there’s a risk in being authentically me in rural (and urban) spaces.
It’s been fun to engage with these sights in the smaller scale - the largest painting I’ve made for this show is 18”x22” which is a very different space to engage than my recent favorite 5’x4’ scale.
It’s fun to make large things small and smaller things large in these works - and in some weird way I feel like this playfully demonstrates the upside down of queerness - always encouraging us to think differently about that which seems “normal.”
I’ll come back with my last thoughts on this matter next week, when we’re one week out from Queericana’s big city debut.
Until then, please know I would love to see you August 1st at Calendula Gallery from 6:00-8:00pm. I’m planning a very special party.
The opening reception will feature an artist talk by yours truly, a work of art cake by Aunt Mona’s Cakes & Pastries and a curated menu of specialty cocktails and mocktails in collaboration with Bootleg Blondie to serve to guests as they enjoy the paintings.
I know our lives are filled with so much pain and suffering, grief, and difficulties - and it is my hope to have a few moments of joy together as we live the world we want together.
I truly see paintings as portals and my teachers, I hope they invite you to think differently about your assumptions you might hold about yourself and/or rural places.
My Ko-Fi Cup Fillers have been getting special and early access to these works in progress and some completed paintings as they’ve come off the easel. If you want a preview of a show, join the others who are supporting Studio Utopia in this special, exclusive corner of the internet.
Other ways you can join in on the Art of KCF action:
I will be at the Urban Art Village on Saturday July 26th outside of Midtown Market in Minneapolis in hopes of connecting with new collectors of my work! Stop by from 11am-4pm.
If you want to support my art practice the number one way you can do that is buy a painting.
If that’s not possible for you right now, I understand, please share this email with someone who you think would appreciate my work.
While I know times are tough for a lot of us in the world, i know we can carve out moments of peace, love, and harmony with purpose, joy, and community.
It’s in this spirit I send you my warmest regards.
Con cariño,
KCF