Murray State's Digital Commons

Collection Title

Kayla Chinn 399 Port.

Author/Artist Name

Kayla ChinnFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Junior

Date of Creation

Spring 5-4-2021

Artist Statement

I am someone who struggles to let go of the past, something I did not fully understand until studying another artist who struggles with the same thing. Being an individual who latches on to my childhood and past experiences is difficult as I continue to age. My work tells the stories that come from my lifetime and how they have affected me as I grow older. My approach to my soft sculptures helps drive those overarching feelings home as it is an homage to my late family members who were huge inspirations to me and my work, these women often worked in textiles around me from a young age. Working with these materials also has encouraged me to work larger and create pieces that are more demanding of the spaces they occupy as transforming a space is a goal I am working towards in my current body of work.

WIthin my work the objects that represent me are based on the visual appearance of a bunny, bunnies have a deep rooted symbolism of renewal and fruitfulness. While in comparison, I use a bear shape for the representation of the harmful or difficult experiences or people from my stories, bears can represent an relentless source of anger and that was exactly what I wanted to depict in my own way. Moving forward there are plans to incorporate a third character type as well as investigate installations and how to transform a space to be a utility towards the art rather than art sitting in a room or on a wall. Turning private experiences into art that just feels personal but still digestible is the main goal in this new chapter.

Ceramic artist Brett Kern has been a huge inspiration to my work, even though he does not inspire me visually, his concepts and how he talks about his work is something I admire. He has the same issue with letting go of his childhood, finding someone who was able to put this feeling into words was extremely beneficial to me.

Advisor/Mentor

Rebecca Williams, John Utgaard, Mike Martin

Description

WIthin my work the objects that represent me are based on the visual appearance of a bunny, bunnies have a deep rooted symbolism of renewal and fruitfulness. While in comparison, I use a bear shape for the representation of the harmful or difficult experiences or people from my stories, bears can represent an relentless source of anger and that was exactly what I wanted to depict in my own way. Moving forward there are plans to incorporate a third character type as well as investigate installations and how to transform a space to be a utility towards the art rather than art sitting in a room or on a wall. Turning private experiences into art that just feels personal but still digestible is the main goal in this new chapter.

Recommended Citation

Chinn, Kayla, "Kayla Chinn 399 Port." (2021). Professional Practices (ART 399). 116.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/116