Kimberly Engel

I rarely start a body of work about something specific. Making artwork is an exploration of myself and ultimately, the dissolving of myself. I can only begin to see certain themes that run through the work after long periods of rest. My work over the past couple of years has layers of transparency or space with areas of agitated marks or discordant color. When I observe my own work after a painting session, I find the most interesting marks occur when I dissolve into the process and fully surrender.

I find great pleasure in studying art history and contemporary art. I am always seeking out museums when traveling to see as much art as I can. I am influenced by the process of automatism introduced to the Abstract Expressionists by the Surrealists who fled Europe during the second World War and lived in New York City during the mid-1940’s. The interchange and co-mingling of ideas of this era inspires me deeply.

While currently in the midst of a political, environmental and economic global shift, I intensely feel the fears of the collective consciousness. But there is also light. I feel it is equally important to document the darkness as well as the light while celebrating the evolutionary shift in human consciousness that is beyond good and evil.