Founders Feature: KEN KINYON
Multi-Fired Ceramic Vessels and sculptures
Buckham
Ken Kinyon, May 2020
I am one of the founding artist members of The Buckham Fine Arts Project but, like most, was not in the center of it all. As with nearly all important endeavors, there was a core group of individuals that had the concept and turned it into reality.
I have never been an insider to anything in my life and this was no different. I sat in on informal discussions as the dream of a gallery was becoming reality. I remember a few nights when Sam Morello, Bob Caskey, Thom Nuzum, Gary Gebhardt and a couple of others had long discussions in the sculpture room. It should not be overlooked that at that time, the art center (MCC) was the hub of all art activity. The best of the best were there teaching. They brought in a lot of young talented people and energy gathered like a brewing storm. Since most of them were there at the same time it was easy to have an idea about a potential gallery and go down the hall to knock it out with a few other like-minded people. It all was interesting to me but I never dreamed I’d be a part of it. Still they included me, asked me questions, wanted to know my opinions on various subjects.
When I finally saw what was to become Buckham I was acutely disappointed. Stairs. Steep stairs.
Being carried up the stairs in my wheelchair became a routine. I felt guilty and bad for those who had to do it. Over the next few years I had to depend on Guy Adamec, John Kotarski, Dave Smallidge (with his bad back), Caskey, Gebhardt, Bill Chatterson and others to haul me up there. Not once did any of them complain or balk at the chore.
I was slated for the second inaugural show, Enclaves II. I knew immediately that I was going to do a large installation. A year earlier I had been working on a series of sculptures and someone said (innocently) it was too bad that I was in a wheelchair, those pieces would look so much stronger if they were large. Late one night I discussed this with Caskey and Bommarito. Until that point I had thought that I had to do everything myself, conception to finish. They set me straight.
I quickly sketched a totemic piece that in my mind was to be a celebration, tribute to the new space. It was a ten foot circle, forty inches of mounded soil with a stack of adobe “stones” balanced one atop another towering above everyone and everything. Simple.
The outdoor temperature was pretty steamy when the second show came around. Nuzum showed me my space and I was very elusive about my plan. I’ve always felt it good personal policy to do what I want first and apologize later. For the cost of ten Big Macs, as many drinks and fries as requested, I hired my brother Keith and his friend Russ, both weightlifters and athletes to help me. We gathered burlap bag after bag of sand pilfered from the large berms behind the old St Joe’s hospital, adjacent to the Mott parking lot . Trip after sweaty trip to Buckham, up the stairs, dump, back down the stairs and repeat. And repeat. By the end of the day we had the mound in place and later a ring of anthracite coal ringing the outer edge to keep it from spilling onto the surrounding floor. Thom came in while we were recovering from the heat and fell silent. Thom was not usually silent. This was not what he had expected, and expressed worries about the weight. He added that “it was dirt” and a number of nightmare scenarios. Next he suggested that it should be moved a few feet in another direction, there may have been talk of someone being thrown out the window, and then it was fine. Afterward we all had a drink together and smiled a lot.
The following morning we stacked the adobe blocks and found a bazillion teeny ants all over the area. We concealed ant bait in the sand and hoped for the best. It was a good day. We were the only ones at the gallery and no one was the wiser.
Ken Kinyon, May 2020
I am one of the founding artist members of The Buckham Fine Arts Project but, like most, was not in the center of it all. As with nearly all important endeavors, there was a core group of individuals that had the concept and turned it into reality.
I have never been an insider to anything in my life and this was no different. I sat in on informal discussions as the dream of a gallery was becoming reality. I remember a few nights when Sam Morello, Bob Caskey, Thom Nuzum, Gary Gebhardt and a couple of others had long discussions in the sculpture room. It should not be overlooked that at that time, the art center (MCC) was the hub of all art activity. The best of the best were there teaching. They brought in a lot of young talented people and energy gathered like a brewing storm. Since most of them were there at the same time it was easy to have an idea about a potential gallery and go down the hall to knock it out with a few other like-minded people. It all was interesting to me but I never dreamed I’d be a part of it. Still they included me, asked me questions, wanted to know my opinions on various subjects.
When I finally saw what was to become Buckham I was acutely disappointed. Stairs. Steep stairs.
Being carried up the stairs in my wheelchair became a routine. I felt guilty and bad for those who had to do it. Over the next few years I had to depend on Guy Adamec, John Kotarski, Dave Smallidge (with his bad back), Caskey, Gebhardt, Bill Chatterson and others to haul me up there. Not once did any of them complain or balk at the chore.
I was slated for the second inaugural show, Enclaves II. I knew immediately that I was going to do a large installation. A year earlier I had been working on a series of sculptures and someone said (innocently) it was too bad that I was in a wheelchair, those pieces would look so much stronger if they were large. Late one night I discussed this with Caskey and Bommarito. Until that point I had thought that I had to do everything myself, conception to finish. They set me straight.
I quickly sketched a totemic piece that in my mind was to be a celebration, tribute to the new space. It was a ten foot circle, forty inches of mounded soil with a stack of adobe “stones” balanced one atop another towering above everyone and everything. Simple.
The outdoor temperature was pretty steamy when the second show came around. Nuzum showed me my space and I was very elusive about my plan. I’ve always felt it good personal policy to do what I want first and apologize later. For the cost of ten Big Macs, as many drinks and fries as requested, I hired my brother Keith and his friend Russ, both weightlifters and athletes to help me. We gathered burlap bag after bag of sand pilfered from the large berms behind the old St Joe’s hospital, adjacent to the Mott parking lot . Trip after sweaty trip to Buckham, up the stairs, dump, back down the stairs and repeat. And repeat. By the end of the day we had the mound in place and later a ring of anthracite coal ringing the outer edge to keep it from spilling onto the surrounding floor. Thom came in while we were recovering from the heat and fell silent. Thom was not usually silent. This was not what he had expected, and expressed worries about the weight. He added that “it was dirt” and a number of nightmare scenarios. Next he suggested that it should be moved a few feet in another direction, there may have been talk of someone being thrown out the window, and then it was fine. Afterward we all had a drink together and smiled a lot.
The following morning we stacked the adobe blocks and found a bazillion teeny ants all over the area. We concealed ant bait in the sand and hoped for the best. It was a good day. We were the only ones at the gallery and no one was the wiser.
The Founders Feature highlights The Buckham Fine Arts Project and the artists involved from our early days.
Founders Feature: May 14 - May 20
Founding member Ken Kinyon’s multi-fired ceramic sculptures are obsessive and meditative works recognizable by their texture. He has shown at the Flint Institute of Arts, Greater Flint Arts Council, Grand Rapids, NYC, and Buckham Gallery.
Kinyon became a student at Mott Community College after being severely injured while professionally racing motorcycles. This accident, which left him paralyzed from the chest down, led him to meet artists in Flint who guided Kinyon to follow this new passion for art. He studied fine arts at Arizona State University until illness brought him back to Flint and MCC. On his return he became a student of, and then friends with, Joe Bommarito, Bob Caskey, Sam Morello, and Thomas Nuzum. It was during this time and through these relationships that The Buckham Fine Arts Project became a reality.
Founders Feature: May 14 - May 20
Founding member Ken Kinyon’s multi-fired ceramic sculptures are obsessive and meditative works recognizable by their texture. He has shown at the Flint Institute of Arts, Greater Flint Arts Council, Grand Rapids, NYC, and Buckham Gallery.
Kinyon became a student at Mott Community College after being severely injured while professionally racing motorcycles. This accident, which left him paralyzed from the chest down, led him to meet artists in Flint who guided Kinyon to follow this new passion for art. He studied fine arts at Arizona State University until illness brought him back to Flint and MCC. On his return he became a student of, and then friends with, Joe Bommarito, Bob Caskey, Sam Morello, and Thomas Nuzum. It was during this time and through these relationships that The Buckham Fine Arts Project became a reality.
My Work
I love textures.
I look at an entire image and see only a fraction that interests me, making the whole of it meaningless. But that little piece of--something--it draws me in and I see it as a whole. I love multiples, the same form over and over, sometimes all the same other times with different surfaces. Simple, crude forms can have power. Think of a simple beach pebble. They force you to pick them up. Power.
I do not tend to think of my work as abstract, but rather simple observations of something. My early works were ceramic vessels, but I quickly moved to ceramic sculptures. I am compelled to create simple spheres and oblong shapes covered with textured glazes. Through methodical experimentation with different glaze techniques I achieve the textures which I love.
I love textures.
I look at an entire image and see only a fraction that interests me, making the whole of it meaningless. But that little piece of--something--it draws me in and I see it as a whole. I love multiples, the same form over and over, sometimes all the same other times with different surfaces. Simple, crude forms can have power. Think of a simple beach pebble. They force you to pick them up. Power.
I do not tend to think of my work as abstract, but rather simple observations of something. My early works were ceramic vessels, but I quickly moved to ceramic sculptures. I am compelled to create simple spheres and oblong shapes covered with textured glazes. Through methodical experimentation with different glaze techniques I achieve the textures which I love.