Fascinated by the concept of secrets and moved by personal thoughts and experiences, contemporary artist Kris Knight, found himself attracted to the medium of art ever since a very young age. A modern day story teller, nowadays one can find him in his home studio in Canada, working on various series of portraits featuring different shades of youth.
Your signature work has earned you many exhibitions, mentions from the press as well as quite a few awards. What first got you involved with the medium of art and what triggered your desire to focus on portraiture, in specific?
I’ve always been interested in drawing (and drawing faces specifically) ever since I was a young child. Drawing was my escape but it also entertained me. Often I would much rather lie on the floor and draw than play with my friends outside. From the earliest age I would receive art supplies for Christmas and birthday presents so in a way, I think I was groomed to be an artist. I started painting with acrylics in high school but still preferred drawing, however when I tried oil painting in college I was instantly obsessed with the medium.
I’m constantly fascinated with all things painting. I love the smell, the fluidity of the oil paint and the process of building up layers to create dimension. I think my favourite thing about oil painting is that if I have an unsuccessful day at the studio, I can take a rag and wipe off all of my dissatisfaction and start anew. It’s a very forgiving medium. I’m fascinated with the complexity of physiognomy and never get bored with painting the figure. I focus on the portrait because I’m interested in the gaze, as well as portraying the subtleties of the face. When I first started painting professionally, I was interested in androgyny in terms of gender, now I am more interested in creating neutrality and ambiguity in regards to moods. I like tiptoeing between dichotomies of hot and cold, especially in facial expression and mood.
Your art features a 17th century inspired portraiture-style with more contemporary subjects. What intrigues you the most about merging the old with the new?
I like the authority of the past with the fleetingness of the new. I’m really inspired by the softer palette historically found in neoclassical portraiture, especially French 17th century portraiture. I’m drawn to the pastels and the ghostly skin tones found in the work of Joseph Ducreux and Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun. There is something both luscious and decaying about their palettes that I hope translates in my work as well. I want my colours to have the same sense of contradiction like my imagery, equally vivid and deadening at the same time.
Do you feel that your art reflects today’s youth plagued by the stigma to grow up quickly?
I think my work has more to do with the decay of youth than the stigma to grow up quickly. I think the characters I paint tend more to the have the Peter Pan syndrome of holding on to one’s youth. Our society focuses so much on youth as the pinnacle of beauty that we become poisoned by the obsession of preserving what is naturally fleeting.
It is quite apparent that you are very much fascinated by the psychosynthesis of your subjects. To what degree are these deep, personal stories based on personal experiences?
Each one of my series is stemmed from an autobiographical memory. I’ve always been inspired by folklore, myth, secrets and gossip and I see painting as a vehicle for my own storytelling. The narrative in my work is just as important as the painting itself. I like the fact that a painting can be interpreted on any level by anyone, but in the end I know the origin, the root of the painting.
What is the predominant emotion you wish to inspire to your work’s audience? Why?
If I can inspire any emotional response from my work I’d be happy, simply because I am only attracted to art that I have emotional response to. I paint all year round but book most of my crazy deadlines (i.e.: 14+ hour days) during the winter months. I live in Toronto where winters can be long and unforgiving so I don’t mind being holed up in my studio while everyone else is in hibernation mode as well. Like a lot of Canadians I get the winters blues, that sort of weird depression haze that ends when the weather warms. This plus a bit too many moody songs blaring on the iTunes for hours and hours often comes through onto the canvas consciously or not.
I often paint my characters in isolated settings because I want the primary focus of the composition to be on the intensity of the character’s expression and gaze. My paintings often come across to others as sad simply because my characters are usually alone. I think this confusion relates to my early feelings of isolation in my youth growing up gay in rural Canada, because although I felt alone a lot, I didn’t necessarily feel sad.
Would you consider yourself a storyteller who expresses himself through art or an artist who needs good stories for inspiration?
I’m inspired by personal myth, whether through folklore, biography, gossip or song. I love narrative and see painting as a vehicle for my storytelling. I paint almost every day and often deep into the night while listening to music the entire time. Vivid songwriters inspire me most. Even though all of my paintings are stemmed from my personal histories, I’m often channeling the songwriter’s words consciously or not. I’m not an articulate speaker, and followed the path of making images because I don’t like to talk, so I’m in awe of people who can paint pictures with words and music.
From your Tragic Kingdom series to Secret Are Things We Grow, secrets seem to be a key element. What has been the most interesting so far? Would you share it with our readers?
I definitely think the concept of secrets is a key element in the unification of my work. I’m fascinated with physiognomy and how the face can reveal confessions without saying a word. The characters I paint hide truths of who they are, where they come and whom they love. In my Tragic Kingdom series, my characters put on airs of regality to mask the fact that they were socially and economically the opposite. With Secrets Are The Things We Grow, the characters I painted represented the notion that secrets have roots, they grow with time and sometimes take over.
Have you started working on any new series just yet? Could you give us a hint on what’s to come?
I am in the preliminary stages of drafting a new series but it’s still quite early on to give too many details. I definitely think my new paintings will continue my exploration of a softer colour palette but with darker imagery. I have always been inspired by dichotomies and will continue this exploration of mixing opposites in the subtlest ways.