New Perspectives

Christine Kyle

I don’t think I’m very diferent from most beings in that I regularly try to make sense of and categorize my experiences. This is necessary to learn and prevent constantly starting from the beginning; for example, burning my hand over and over again. But over-classification can get rigid and turn into prejudice.

I believe in doubt.

I think about the liminal space between order and chaos. The box and the grid represent a system of making order. By distorting the structure and taking it to the edges of its’ usefulness, and beyond,

Making It Good {side view)

I create peculiar, mixed media wall sculptures that evoke a sense of familiarity while resisting categorization. I play with perception and try to surprise myself.

In high school, I was introduced to pottery. After graduate school, I took an encaustic workshop at R&F. Through the years, I have taken many art and craft classes and feel I have a very wide (but not too deep) set of skills. I’m lucky enough to have an art studio next to my husband’s woodworking shop. I rob his trash cans, procure his overstocked materials, and get him to help me with fasteners and building with wood and metals.

I have a couple of favorite ceramic studios in the Boston area where I go to make many of my ceramic bases, and I have an encaustic setup in my studio. Clay and wax are the media that keep me interested because of their responsive, natural qualities, and vast array of applications, often with unanticipated results.

Container

Wood, beeswax, resin, pigment

20 x 20 x 2 in

Bee Line

Ceramic, beeswax, damar resin, pigment, string, paper, gold leaf

13 x 16 x 16 in

Found Lists

Wood, paper, beeswax, damar resin

10 x 7 x 3 in

My studio is filled with potential parts and tools to manipulate them. I make batches of encaustic with beeswax (seven parts) and damar resin (one part) in crockpots and gather possible bases. Before I apply wax, I glue the parts together with epoxy (West System). How to hang the piece on the wall (if and when I figure out what side is up) is something I need to keep in mind. Almost all of my work goes through an ugly adolescence. At that point, I have a problem to solve. Strategies that help me proceed are to move to another piece (I always have a few pieces going at the same time), to take a picture and make sketches of possible ideas (PhotoShop), to look at the piece in a mirror and with different orientations, to try to clear my mind of where I thought I was going with the piece, and/or to deconstruct. Some pieces bloom into works I can be proud of. Other work is put on the shelf to be worked through later, thought about, saved for parts, or thrown away.

Creating takes me outside of myself.

I have this quote on my studio wall;

When you start working, everybody is in your studio — the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas — all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you are lucky, even you leave.

John Cage

I’m not sure how to explain what happens during the time I “leave,” but it goes by and when it’s time to stop, I take pictures of my work. I look at the images to hunt for new perspectives. I work at letting my pieces speak for themselves while bringing my skills with the materials to emphasize polished imperfection. Naming a piece is tricky. I like to give my art character and an obscure narrative, and I don’t want to tell the viewer what to think.

Tablet With Circles

Ceramic, beeswax, damar resin, pigment, paper, wood, paint, 20 x 13 x 8 in

About the Author

As a child, Christine Kyle was often absorbed in creative reveries. Fortunately, the Waldorf High School she attended encouraged and nurtured her artistic talents. As a sociology major in college, Kyle continued to be drawn to art, taking enough art classes to enable her to add art as a second major.

After teaching art and life studies at an alternative high school for five years, Kyle enrolled in a graphic design program and worked in the field for fifteen years. All the while, she maintained a dedicated studio practice, steadily creating work, and experimenting with a wide array of media.

Getting There, Ceramic, beeswax, damar resin, graphite, 15 x 9 x 3 in

In 2006, Kyle earned an M.F.A. from Lesley University College of Art and Design and has since focused on her artistic pursuits. Her work has been exhibited widely at venues throughout Massachusetts, including Bromfield Gallery in Boston, the Lunder Arts Center, and the Cambridge Art Association, both in Cambridge; the Kobalt Gallery and Rice Polak Gallery, both in Provincetown; the Holzwasser Gallery at the New Art Center in Newton; Concord Art Association; and the Cultural Arts Alliance in Hopkinton. She was a member of the Bromfield Gallery in Boston for six years.

Kyle works out of her studio in Waltham and lives in Cambridge with her husband and dog.

You can view Christine’s work at www.christinekyle.com www.instagram.com/christine.l.kyle