HC: Kim, what are you working on now?
KS: I am working on a series of altars using cabinetry with drawings, paintings, and assemblage. I was inspired by a very famous, religious altar, (the Ghent Altarpiece), made by the Van Eyck brothers, Flemish painters in the 1400s. I really liked the way they had the doors open, the icons of Adam and Eve, the saints. But for me, I have been more directed in the metaphysical arena of soul searching, almost like alchemy, so I combine my own symbology into this format of an altar.
HC: What is alchemy to you?
KS: Alchemy means a lot of different things to people; but for me, it’s about making transformations. It’s not just simply about turning lead into gold through chemistry; it’s about making a soul transformation. Going through different stages to become enlightened, or reborn, and this is my quest. I use my artwork to “search.” It’s mostly based on being in nature because that is where I am most comfortable. I’ve learned a lot from walking through the woods, being outside.
I follow signs given to me through nature, then incorporate them as symbols into my work for this alchemical transformation. I have also been working with human figures; using myself as an archetype for a searching person in the wilderness, maybe who’s trying to find their way. Then I started using birds instead of people.
The conceptual stage is where I dig into the deep meaning of what I want to express, and maybe, or maybe not, take it literally. Sometimes I’ll do a piece, whether it’s a painting or an assemblage, and not have a firm idea of what it will be until it speaks to me. If it’s about light, maybe I’ll add candles. Sometimes I just wait for an idea to come up. The research helps because I can’t create in a vacuum. Learning about what others have discovered in their life, soul, spirit, and art helps me with my creative process. |
HC: Describe to me your altar.
KS: There are five cabinets, and on the front of each door there is a different bird. Each bird symbolizes a different stage of a transformational process. For example, the black crow: that’s our dark stage--where we go inside ourselves,
and, maybe, look at what’s going on in there. The crow can also relate to winter; when we are indoors more, working on our inner selves. Also, blackness could be where creation starts – from darkness.
HC: What is the creative process you go through before you pick up a paint brush?
KS: I give myself time to look at books then write down my own thoughts. I like to be able to see what other searchers have discovered. I like to read, and study others’ art. I also like to look into animal symbolism, their “totems.” There are different totems for each culture, and I like to compare their interpretations--for example, what a swan might mean. I like to get the information, put it inside my brain, then let it sift down.
HC: Aside from the altars, is there anything else you
are working on these days?
KS: I have been doing bird portraits, which followed my human portraits. I have started with some endangered species, like the California condor and the American bald eagle. On a really large scale. Also, the ivory-billed woodpecker, which has been extinct for 60 years due to the logging, but it’s back again in Arkansas! For me, it’s like the phoenix rising up from the ashes, which is on one of my panels. When I heard the story of the woodpecker returning, I felt it was like a message being sent to me.
HC: What does the phoenix rising mean to you?
KS: Phoenix rising is a metaphor for rebirth. When we go through a tragic experience, or hard times, there is this evolutionary process we go through. We try to discover things. And from the darkness, something is born. So something terrible, or difficult, is turned into a learning and growing experience.
working on panel for "Sacrifice" |