In Spite of Myself by Kimberly Nysse
Exhibition will be on display from September 4 – October 17, 2020
Opening Reception: September 4, 2020, 5 – 7 pm
A curator-led tour will begin at 5 pm exploring the art exhibition. Free admission and open to the public, meet the artist as you view her work. Cash bar and snacks available.
Artist talk: September 4, 2020, 6 – 7 pm.
Free admission! Meet the artist, listen to a Q&A talk and learn about her process, inspiration, and execution of her work. Cash bar and snacks available.
A mask or face covering is required in the building. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
Adopted at a young age, Kimberly Nysse’s search for self has been more intense than it is for most of us. Her self-portraits are a direct extension of that continuous search. “I acquire the deepest knowledge of myself by exploring the most intimate truths, and then abstracting from that perception of reality.”
Kimberly’s background and education are in costume design for the theatre. The connection from stage to canvas is apparent throughout her bold, saturated colors that are larger than life. Working mainly with acrylic on hand-stretched canvas, her style ranges from realism to the abstract, with carefully measured geometry forming the backgrounds and patterns seen throughout her pieces. Although her self-portraits are intensely personal, they also reveal universal emotion as they concretize the fundamental, yet ever-changing, views of herself and her existence.
By all accounts, she is not self-effacing. Yet she consistently opts not to explain her motivation or process. What is clear, however, is her all-encompassing commitment to the life of an artist. She chooses to work with techniques that require attentiveness and take long stretches of time. Whether it is printmaking, quilting, photography, encaustic or painting, her work insists upon a mindfulness and reverence for the process.
In her studio and home, she surrounds herself with things of beauty. Small sculptures created by her children, pottery and ceramics, a vintage accordion she named Pearl, and of course, music; the rich ballads that have become the soundtrack to her life and work. Her world is not cluttered. It must be necessary, beautiful, loved or it is not welcome. Clutter distracts from truth and she would like her life to be as truthful as her art. Kimberly has the power to bring the widest metaphysical abstractions into the immediate. Her question with every creation is: Is this worthy of being called “the truth of it?” She is a student at Holy Family College and lives and works in Sheboygan.
