January Local Artist Spotlight: KD Kinetic
KD Kinetic
How did you start doing art and what is your preferred medium?
I started creating art the old fashion Millennial way...I saw pictures on Photobucket and Myspace when I was in 6th grade and felt ~iNsPiReD~. I begged my parents for a camera and thankfully they got me one for my birthday. I was in dance for 10 years as a kiddo, but a light-bulb went on in my head when I started to understand how to create a photograph. Photography was my love for 6 years, and throughout those 6 years I discovered my passion for makeup, styling, and conceptual self portraits. I loved turning myself into a character and creating a photo that I saw in my mind. My dance background plus my love of makeup/costuming came full circle when I started pursing performance art in 2013. Since then I’ve performed around the U.S. and lived in Brooklyn for a few years working at a performance art establishment called House of Yes. I'm back in Austin now and at this moment my preferred mediums are immersive theater, installation art, and costuming aka turning a look aka being wild and fabulous.
What drives your creative spirit these days?
The need for education that can inspire social change, in particular our mindset toward consumption. When we learn to take care of our planet through mindful and ethical consumption, we learn how to nurture ourselves and our relationships. The injustice fueling the fast fashion industry and carelessness of society regarding our trash hurts my heart. We have been taught to be wasteful and thoughtless with how we consume everything from food, to clothes, to tinder dates. My creative spirit can't be quiet, it’s a great way to get nothing done and a terrible way to make progress. Artists create culture, and culture has the power to create positive changes in our daily lives. The last thing that drives my creative spirit is purely my love of art. I love making looks, stories, characters, images...all of it. Even when I want to throw my work across the room because I just fixed that one thing 50x, I still love it! The act of creating allows me to entertain and focus my energy into something productive, interesting, stirring, and educational.
How does reuse play a part in your art?
Between thrifting, making wearable plastic art and installations out of plastic, my art wouldn’t exist without reusing. This idea of constantly wanting more leaves me feeling empty. I respect wanting the best for ourselves, but at what cost? Could the “best” already be present and we’re too trapped in consumerism to enjoy it? Whatever that “more” may be, it can hinder my ability to see what is already around me. Creating art from trash and reusing supplies has allowed me to find the power in what I already have. We don’t always need to buy a ton of new sh*t to make new sh*t. Reusing holds me accountable, I better have the intent to use it till it’s done or keep it for a long time.
What compels you to donate to ACR?
Knowing that whatever is donated could make someone's day! Someone might really need that one thing that you don’t care about anymore, and knowing you could give someone else that special, “Oh my gawd I just found exactly what I needed! Woah! Thank you stranger!” moment is freaking awesome.
Do you have a favorite ACR find? What did you do with it?
One was this giant bin of color sorted bottle caps...I lost my mind. The bottle caps are being turned into costume pieces and curtains for my immersive installation Plastique that will debut later this year. Stay tuned ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
Where can we find out more about your art?
Instagram @kd_kinetic
Website www.kdkinetic.com