Kyle is a print artist that currently resides in Evansville, IN by way of California, Missouri, Tennessee, and Illinois. Kyle's work focuses on his individual pursuit of spirituality and the importance of self in regard to the grand cosmic perspective. Fresh off of his latest series of work, "Godself." Kyle continues hard at work combining printmaking, ceramics, and fibers into his new series, "Versus the Multiverse" which includes a novel detailing the adventures of our hero "Kyle" and his inter-dimensional experiences. He currently teaches at the University of Evansville and Signature School.
Current Artist Statement:
Versus the Multiverse
When I was ten, my family and I moved from California to Missouri leaving everything behind. It was an opportunity for my mom to reinvent her life and by proxy, my siblings and me. Everything was left, from heirlooms to photographs. When looking back, it was as if I was born at ten. Memories faded other than what I remember my brother telling me, but what will always remain missing were the pictures, my proof of existence.
My recent body of work is rooted around this experience and trying to recapture those lost photos and memories by creating new ones. Through a series of self-portrait woodcuts I felt as though I was accomplishing this, but as they progressed, they were no longer self-portraits. I was exploring my religious history, from United Church of Christ, to my Jewish heritage, to finally landing in Atheism and an admiration for Catholicism. What drew me through all of it always rested in the specificity of religion and the Obsessive Compulsive tendencies that lay within. Church through history, no matter what denomination, rested on a set of symbols and practices that would be repeated exponentially. For this is how they could show their love for their deity, and please it so they should not encounter damnation.
In doing so, the character of the Godself has emerged. He represents the malleability of identity. From surveyor of everything in a space battle with his ex-girlfriend to the pursuit of finality and that want of being left alone. Through the Godself, I can be anything. And in “vs. The Multiverse” he is a window into any verse I choose. From a literary standpoint (and accompanying novel), Sci-Fi Spaghetti Western set in Ancient Mexico, to a personal one. A vessel for me to analyse my own past and understand what makes a person, their identity, so unique. The Godself is a character study, not of me necessarily, but of the culture I grew up with. The machine gun fire of Tupac over the radio to the intimidating stature of the Undertaker on Raw are both examples of a person, changing themselves for a character to be presented. And in doing so were able to define who they were while also marketing themselves as a brand. Their brand was fictitious, but also became themselves.
Repetition, the core value of Printmaking isn’t just its result, but also a way of thinking. Printing image after image is understanding. This can be found in plenty of craft based approaches which is why they are so prevalent. Quilting, pottery, and woodcuts are my method of exploration to fully understand not only the objects I present but also myself.