I am interested in the crafting of three-dimensional allegoric fable. Visual statements depicting humanity's peculiarities, its power struggles, and warnings of the fate of a species that chooses to dominate rather than adapt to its environment.
Growing up, my family home was filled with illustrated books of Aesop's fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and other magical stories that stoked my fears and fascinations. Fantastical tales filled with anthropomorphized animals conveying lessons on the perils of humanity's basest tendencies. It took root in my imagination and became my language for translating situations I find troubling or disturbing.
There is magic to be found in narrative sculpture. As storyteller, each piece reveals plot twists and layered meaning from every angle. But the piece itself can be a sculptor of sorts, coaxing a viewer's perspective into new shapes. Art transforms and informs. If used wisely, it holds superpowers.
~ K.C. Reynolds
Background
I was running a non-profit for refugee artists out of my home when a generous ceramics artist gifted her entire studio’s worth of tools, equipment and over 300 pounds of clay to the cause. The year was 2018, and despite a lifelong love of art, I had no experience with clay. I was fortunate to be invited by a local group of Native American elders to lead some art workshops. Together we learned to make ceramic beads and charms, firing the works in our donated kiln and bestowing the necklaces we made to tribal veterans as tokens of appreciation. Manifesting actual physical objects of great meaning from lumps of earth like that sparked a love of the material and art form that has grown in intensity every day since.
Despite feeling that I was an artist at heart (my mother is and always was an artist), I pursued an education in science. From undergrad to graduate degree to career paths in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, deep-sea marine ecology, and environmental science, I kept my central focus on adaptation. Even beyond, when assisting refugees to now becoming a visual artist making statements on society, I am still working through that same lens, observing and interpreting extreme adaptations. This may stem from a childhood that involved many relocations. Adapting to new environments is something I've personally always found thrilling. It's at the foundation of our survival, from our DNA to our individual lives to humankind. We must adapt to evolve. We must evolve to survive as a species.
It's sadly not something humanity as a whole has seemed to fully grasp yet. We are the only species to resist adapting to our own environment on this planet. It's not going well. Maybe if enough of us wave our flags and sound the alarm, we can right this ship in time...
