“Down, boy.” 2011, 9”x12” (inkjet transfer, ink)
Kunj Patel, artist
The work I produce is based on the human experience within a cultural context. I am fascinated with stressful situations and how we react to that phenomenon. The work is about the middle space between the life we experience, and the senses we encounter. I research the fields of anthropology and phenomenology to produce a ghoulish and amorphous aesthetic. Tension and weight are compositional elements, which also transcend emotional intent to something visual. The personal occurrences as an American-born, Indian male narrate moments of hesitance and release.
Inspirations can be traced to anatomical drawings and cellular imagery; I translate preconceived images of human biology into structures that grow or deplete. The ideas stem from: existential philosophy, personal heritage, material culture, and musical movements (like noise pop and punk rock). Interested in mysticism and ritual, I approach my practice like a shaman uncovering the ambiguity of the physical and other world. I explore these themes through a deliberate abstraction of the human form. The work is visceral and holds an undertone of fetishistic, macabre, and sexual content. I am prone to layer printmaking, drawing, and painting on paper; however I fluidly move into sculpture and performance art to explore my subject matter in the round
Inspirations can be traced to anatomical drawings and cellular imagery; I translate preconceived images of human biology into structures that grow or deplete. The ideas stem from: existential philosophy, personal heritage, material culture, and musical movements (like noise pop and punk rock). Interested in mysticism and ritual, I approach my practice like a shaman uncovering the ambiguity of the physical and other world. I explore these themes through a deliberate abstraction of the human form. The work is visceral and holds an undertone of fetishistic, macabre, and sexual content. I am prone to layer printmaking, drawing, and painting on paper; however I fluidly move into sculpture and performance art to explore my subject matter in the round
