"Have a Seat But Don't Stay", oil on board, 40 x 14 in. by King
In Greenfield, second Fridays are celebrated with artful events. This past Friday, the CrazyLake Art House Gallery enjoyed their one year anniversary by presenting “E2: Eclectic Emergence” the art of Cagney King.
King’s artwork is an eclectic mix of subjects and materials. The pieces often are concerned with simple images, objects, and people in a light-hearted way, yet there is a deeper emotional connection than what is on the surface.
In her artwork, the images are apparent, but King enjoys keeping the process behind each work visible through scratches, splatters, scrapes, drips, and layers. She applies cut text, uses sand to make a textured surface, and adds found objects. King blends and combines media to complete her vision, whatever that might be. There is a poetic life to her work and a story or journey that accompanies each unique expression.
In the work “Poetry Pants” King attached a pair of jeans and used some of the main ideas from a poem, in the form of text, over the entire piece. She says that she resolved about three quarters of the work before feeling stuck. One of her friends mentioned that it appeared to be a self-portrait. After re-evaluating the painting, King was able to gain more clarity and self-realization in order to finish the piece.
A selection in the exhibit from her Juarez series depicts a mother combing her child’s hair after washing it with water. The Juarez series started when King visited the city in Mexico on an architectural photo shoot. She was taken back by the poverty there and had a desire to capture the emotional outlook of fathers, mothers, and children who struggled to fill their basic, daily needs. King paid the people who sat for her and in turn, they asked her to tell their story through her art.
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"Pulling Through", oil, found object, mixed media on board, by King
King also experiments with encaustic or hot wax painting. Although she did not exhibit her encaustic pieces in this particular show, they support her overall vision of spontaneity.
King is self-taught in her encaustic technique. She was inspired and encouraged to push the limits with wax as she had seen her professor at Herron do many years ago. For King, experimentation seems to be at the heart of her art. She enjoys fusing encaustic layers while grasping self-knowledge, meaning, and freshness. King says, “I love happy accidents in art.”
The CrazyLake Art House Gallery is just one of many businesses located in the Creative Arts and Event Center at 2 W. Main Street in Greenfield. The three-story building, refurbished by Bob and Bev Hunt, houses an Old-Fashioned Soda Fountain, about 14 artists’ studios, an arts classroom, events room, and a theatre company.
The building revitalization, says King, is one of many efforts to enrich downtown Greenfield. Additional second Friday art events will continue to do the same.
Caricature artist, Io Batka, sketches live at Creative Arts and Events Center for second Friday event.
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