Kevin Snipes

Invited Artist

BIOGRAPHY

Kevin Snipes is an American visual artist whose works primarily consists of an interplay of narrative drawings and hand-built porcelain constructions. Along with his studio practice, Kevin has taught numerous workshops and has given lectures on topics such as creativity, art, and the construct of otherness. He was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He holds a BFA (1994) from the Cleveland Institute of Art and did graduate studies at the University of Florida (2003), in Gainesville, Florida. Kevin’s work reflects his interest in understanding human behavior through psychological attributes such as attraction and repulsion, inner versus external identity and the relationship of the self and the other.  Kevin’s art embodies his role as a storyteller. He seeks to draw people into conversation through his art.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work is based in the combination of narrative imagery on hand built ceramic forms. But primarily I think of myself as a storyteller. The stories I tell are open-ended investigations of difference and otherness. They are ways in which I can explore the underlying emotional and psychological issues of discrimination. I am interested in what happens when people who are different come together. One aspect of my work is that the narratives I portray encompass different sides, so that every side of the piece is the front side, or protagonist. This said, my approach to working with these ideas is somewhat subversive. Both the intimate scale and the jewel-like surfaces that are hallmarks of my work are a sort of misdirection that the viewer must dig through to get to the kernel of the work. I’ve loved working this way because I believe that the viewers of my work are dynamically engaged enough to understand that there is a layer of social unease below the surface.
I’m very interested in pushing boundaries of my work in a direction that reveals more of unease below the surface.

kevinsnipes.com
Instagram: @hollowfingers