Online Feature: Ken Kohoutek

Launching Friday, November 20th, 10am Pacific

"Since 1982 my work has been concerned with using ceramic tile and thrown vessel surfaces as a “canvas” for low-fire glaze narrative paintings.  In this medium I have been able to control flat areas of brilliant color that are organized into obsessive surface pattern.  My goal is for color and pattern to interact with exuberant visual energy, adding to the desired visual and emotional tension of the imagery. I enjoy combining realistically rendered, large scale machines and household objects with a bemused male subject in a chaotic spatial environment.  The result is not so much a premeditated comment on contemporary life in a consumer society as it is a delight in playing with contrasts of color, pattern, perspective and scale to create a vibrant, rapid-fire visual field.  My work draws inspiration from Cubism, Dada, Pop Art, Folk Art and quilt making."