By ALEXANDER REYES
Staff Reporter
The current artist in residence at NWOSU this month is Kyle Larson from Sacramento, Calif.
Larson grew up in Sacramento and attended college at Sacramento State, double majoring in English and art with an MA in painting. He moved to Boston in 2010 and graduated 2012 with an MFA in painting.
He arrived in Alva Aug. 20 and got to work immediately on five paintings; Larson said they remain unfinished so far. They start out as abstractions (random shapes and colors) and from there he does a lot of drawing with them then paints what he drew, a sort of back-and-forth technique.
Alva has “been great,” said Larson. “There’s not a lot of noise, you can relax a little.” The thing he enjoys most about being here is the open classroom he uses as his workspace, since he currently only has a small studio in his apartment. He hopes to get in-depth with students, helping them discover new techniques and improve what they already know.
Most of his artistic inspiration stems from his heritage. Mostly Aztec art, specifically Huehuecoyotl, the trickster coyote god many Aztecs worshipped. A lot also comes from childhood experiences, “We internalize things so easily as children,.” said Larson. He has many cow figures in his work because he loved the tale of Ferdinand the Bull he heard as a child.
He does drawing and painting and likes to dance. “Movement is a lot like painting just go with the flow and don’t think about it.” Larson said. He feels it’s when you start becoming conscious of what you’re doing you start trying to fix things that don’t need to be touched on till later. His musical tastes run to “everything electronic, classic rock, indie, Michael Jackson, just a good mix of music.”
His plans for the future are indefinite. “I feel as long as I’m working hard and grinding it out it’ll be fine; keep going you’ll find something and surprise yourself even.”
Larson’s artwork can be viewed online at cargocollective.com/kylelarson.