Among the Strange Beings
Part human, part totem, the faceless beings of Dave Kinsey’s latest nonetheless peer back at the viewer in the artist’s latest solo exhibition, Strange Being at For the Unconventional. Situated in confined expanses of pure color, solitary figures gaze out from the void and reflect the myriad emotional states of a tumultuous year - reflection, solitude, perseverance, and more. In Strange Being, the emulation of the human psyche during a lengthy stay-at-home order is apparent. Drawing on his own self-reflection and growth as well as observations of loved ones, Kinsey’s Strange Being mark is his return to the evident human figure, markedly absent during a several year period of exploration in the abstract.
Installation view: “Strange Being” | For the Conventional | Los Angeles
In each of the six paintings exhibited, a somber palette reflects the mood of the subject. Without faces, their body language alludes to their despair as each figure struggles to fit within the boundaries of their canvas. To cope with its limited surroundings, the Assiduous Being seems to cradle itself, lost in a barren landscape of earthen clay beneath a deep green horizon. The seated figure seems to nonetheless indicate the perseverance and courage the world has taken to adapt to a new quotidian existence.
Assiduous Being, 2020 | Acrylic on linen | 48 x 42 inches
The painting Domesticated Being situates the figure in a landscape with Morandi-esque vases. The figure nearly blends into its confines both figure and background painted in the same tones of deep Sienna. The glowing red harkens back to the day the world seemed to stand still in California, as the smoke from countless wildfires blocked out the sun, illuminating the state in an ominous apocalyptic shroud. By painting the vases, a reminder of domestic reality in this cataclysmic landscape, Kinsey reveals our collective inner turmoil - the sense of helplessness as the world’s environmental and social problems continue in spite of the necessity to stay at home.
Domesticated Being, 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 48 x 40 inches
Kinsey writes that “spatial settings emanate a melancholy temperament through an absence of light.” It is through this melancholia that I realized the strange beings in fact are not so strange after all. Each strange being, and its corresponding pensive sadness, relates to a different stage of the journey in my psyche over the past year. Rooted in the search for serenity and happiness in extraneous circumstances a major factor in the journey chart the course from the woes of loneliness and isolation to the welcoming of solitude.
Installation view: “Strange Being” | For the Conventional | Los Angeles
The paintings on the prospective end of the journey are rendered in calm, blue tones to balance the intensity of the despair in the ochre and sienna. Botanical Being hints at the importance of connection with nature as a method towards self-fulfillment, while the Ambient Being and Ephemeral Being appear entirely at peace. In the two latter paintings, the figures sit more at ease in their shell and gaze more directly forward. Ambient Being portrays a certain lightness of being, both in tonality and form, hinting at not just the possibility, but the probability of a pleasant end to an unpleasant journey.
Ambient Being, 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 34 x 30 inches
Strange Being is on view at For the Unconventional through February 26, 2021. View more at https://dkinsey.com/ and follow Dave Kinsey on Instagram. Visit the exhibition online