Deconstructing Kathleen Finney's Art

 

“the experience is a dance that allows for embrace at your own discretion.” 

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You are not going to get a straight answer from her; she is going to bounce everything right back - you decide what you feel, what you see, where you want to go with this or that. She paints for herself and gifts it to you; the experience is a dance that allows for an embrace at your own discretion. 

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Ah, process, yes. There are letters, words, zany scratching but never a motto, or cliche, I see no end game, nothing that says you are here and there is over there. The journey is a maze that invites entrance. But unlike a maze, there are no dead ends and angles that direct to something finite. Large and small shapes, color, and strokes engage in bold or subtle parley. It must have been applied by an energy that is guided by music; it is cool, it jives. 

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Her process is a somatic one, on the cellular level. Each painting begins from a tactile feeling for the medium, the tools in the hand, and the drag of lead pencil on paper or board. In the studio, her large pieces speak to one another in their secret language. Paint what is felt, what is in the air; liberate the mind over time, sustain the ruminations for days and weeks until the visual opera sings.

 

Kathleen does not title her paintings - the only title these paintings might wear would be; April Through July or maybe 6 Weeks after December. If one of Finney's paintings never hangs on your wall don't worry, once you have seen them they will always be with you.

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by:

Susanne Landucci