the many faces of kimmy cantrell
Susan Lomuto | Jan 07, 2010 | Comments 6
As we walk through this life we wear many faces that change with time, age and experiences. When Kimmy Cantrell reinvented himself more than 15 years ago (two pivotal events occurred in his life: he left his job as a distribution manager for Target and his marriage ended), the largely self-taught artist began creating abstract, vivid, ceramic faces that explore the unorthodox beauty in the flaws and imperfections in those faces – our faces.
Fruit Dreams
Oooh
Conversations With Bama
I deliberately left out the size of these sculptures because I think they would be valid whether they were small brooches that sit on a shoulder or lapel (to remind us?), life-sized sculptures to gaze at us from a table or over-sized pieces that loom over us to drive the point home (every bit of us is beautiful…maybe especially our flaws).
Me, Myself and I, framed
Places I’ve Been
Kimmy Cantrell
“There are stories behind every line, wrinkle and scar on a human body. I hope to show the beauty within those flaws.” Kimmy Cantrell
Filed Under: Ceramic • Featured • Latest Posts
Rarely do I see color used so magnificently. Ditto for his flawless understanding of texture. And don’t even get me started about his managing to say so much without words. Where have we come from? Where are we going, his art asks.
yummy!
Just so you know, these can not be called abstract. Sorry, I am a painter and art educator… so just setting the record straight. Call them stylized if you will, but they are perfectly reconizable as human faces. And BEAUTIFUL!
I am taken by the recurring nails motif. Do they symbolise the coffin of the mind where dreams are laid to rest? Are they being pushed out of the womb where dreams are born? Who’s hammering them down? What force are they pushing up against?
Great feature! Kimmy’s work is evocative, lively, and expressive. These photos are great, but the real treat is to see a large grouping of Kimmy’s work “in person” at an art show.
Kimmy’s work is absolutely fabulous.