KaCey Kal
What are your thoughts:
On developing your style and using the female body as an art form
The female body is art. That's how I look at it.from a point of appreciation and not objectification and that is a very fine line I try not to cross.
I draw inspiration from the female body because I am drawn to the beauty of them. The curves of a woman and the different shapes are beautiful and deserve to be celebrated and that is what I want my art to do that. My style is continuously developing as I continue to create. Without forcing it, I never want the work I am doing today to look exactly like the work I was doing 4 years ago because if I'm not evolving, I am failing as an artist.
On the meaning behind your infamous eye that appears as a constant theme in a lot of your work
I've always wanted a motif. I wanted something that when you look at it, you know it's my work. Among other things Matisse has the cutouts, Murakami has his infamous characters, you know a Picasso or a Kerry James Marshall painting when you see it. That's what I have with my "Lusting Eye". Right now, that's my stamp on the culture and it has been my key to opening doors that I never thought would have been able to. As a part of my evolution as an artist, I know that one day this will no longer be a part of my work, but I am happy with the works that I am creating with them.
On the value of taking social media breaks, especially when trying to find your voice and purpose as an artist
I feel that a lot of times social media receives a lot of scrutinies. Social media is a tool if used right. Sometimes you have to use that block button or that mute button if you're seeing something that you don't want to see. You can curate the experience to what you want it to be for you. I do however believe that breaks from it are extremely necessary. Sometimes you need to be put those tools down because I find that it can a distraction, especially when it comes to finding your voice and purpose as an artist. There are times where you just need to stop and focus on you and what you want your art to say and not what the timeline and Instagram feed has to.
On Black artists being commissioned to produce work for Black initiatives, such as your work for the City of Detroit Census campaign, and what that does for our community
It should really be a no-brainer that black artists should be commissioned for things like that. We have voices that should be heard and spaces that we deserve to take up. Those go hand-and-hand. Nobody can speak for us or on our lived experiences like we can and no one else SHOULD. With the City of Detroit Census campaign, I was fortunate enough to have one of my great friends and supporters of my work, a black woman who has done many great things for the city, Amber Lewis (@socialnthecity), commission me for the billboard. It's was an amazing opportunity for myself and draw more eyes, no pun intended, to a great initiative for the community while displaying my works. We still need that representation for the youth. If a little black child sees the work of an artist who is black on a billboard or as part of a campaign, it can be the spark to let them know that they can also do the same thing.
On the difficulties Black artists face with working with art institutions
The fact that they are black is one of the biggest difficulties. I say this because often times we are not seen as equals, though we are superbly extraordinary. We have to fight for the spaces that are gifted to others without a modicum of talent or they'll try to use us to meet the diversity quota. There is often also a notion or misconception that black artists have to depict the plight of the black experience for it to be "authentic" black art. That we have to show the disparities of our people in order for it to be "black", à la Tyler Perry, who is problematic in his own right. That in order for the art to "be black" or come from an artist who is black we cannot celebrate ourselves. A lot of the works that tend to be shown in the African-American sections of the museums are often works depicting my people in hardships. While these things can be accurate depictions, they are not the only things that deserve to be seen. We are not our struggles and that is not what defines us. The black artist can create whatever art that they'd like without being placed in this box, and that is nothing against those artists who aren't named Tyler Perry because their work deserves to be seen as well, but there is more to us than what they are willing to display.