 Artist in residence, Kyle Larson, shows a glimpse of his artwork. Some of his work will feature in the First Friday Art Walk event this Friday. |
Larson, originally from Sacramento, Calif., received an MFA from Boston University in 2012. He continues to live and work in Boston, and teaches art at Nashua Community College in New Hampshire. Larson came to Northwestern from Boston to fill the position of “artist in residence.” The job entails painting alongside the university’s advanced painters, teaching techniques, and giving the students feedback on their work. Overall, Larson said he has enjoyed his stay in Alva.
“It’s been a blessing to have quiet time to work,” Larson said. “My sole purpose is to wake up and paint right now. It’s also been a nice change to come from the city to such an open space where I can see the horizon in all directions.”
Each artist has their own creative methods while working on a piece. Larson said he begins a painting with an abstract method.
“When I start a painting, I play with color, light and shadow. From there, the compositions start to show themselves and I create a drawing from the abstract forms, and then eventually paint them into the painting.”
Larson said his method tends to be a messy process, and one painting leads to another drawing creating a “web of influence.” Although his paintings all start in a similar fashion, Larson said none of his paintings are really done the same way.
Although much of Larson’s creativity comes from his imagination, he says many of the elements are based on things he has seen or studied at some point, and he gets inspiration from just about anything. While in northwest Oklahoma, Larson enjoyed the Salt Plains area the most.
“You go in and next thing you know you’re on another planet,” he said. “I took a lot of pictures, and I am sure the experience will influence future paintings.”
Artwork created by Larson can be viewed online at www.cargocollective.com/kylelarson.
The next artist in residence for the studio art program, which is led by Jave Yoshimoto, assistant professor of art, will be an international artist, Radhika Prabhu. She is a trained South Indian Classical Dancer and will be flying in from the United Kingdom. She originally hails from India and combines both her dancing and fine arts practices in her works. She plans to create visual arts in the studio and perform her dance routines both on campus and in the community.
More information on Prabhu can be found at www.radhikaprabhu.com or through Yoshimoto at jgyoshimoto@nwosu.edu.
-NW-