Modernism, Colour & The Unseen World: An Interview With Kirk Sutherland
Kirk Sutherland is an eminent artist whose artwork spreads across various galleries in his 30 years of producing innovative abstract art.
He channels his skills to express and delegate his craft, which he describes as a spiritual experience. Sutherland believes that the process of rendering art is equally as important as the finished piece.
Under the guidance of fellow artists like Francois Thepot, Graham Coughtry, Dan Solomon, and many more, Sutherland has excelled in creating spectacular abstract-expressionist art over the years.
In this interview, the Canadian artist talks about the inspiration behind his work, how he transforms an idea into a physical piece and much more.
Kirk Sutherland.SAH: How would you describe your style?
KS: I was classically trained in fine art at a young age and from a reactionary standpoint I found myself quite early on drawn to Post-Painterly Abstraction and Abstract-Expressionism, The Color Field Movement and really all that Modernism offered.
My work in a sense is not narrative-based, you could say through a stream of consciousness it's a celebration of colour, paint, the unseen world, capturing a moment in time.
SAH: Where do you get your inspiration from?
KS: This question could be best summed up in two of my quotes, which I follow and live by as an artist and lecturer. "For art is everything and nothing" and "In a world of possibility I see art in everything".
The bottom line is we live in a world of wonder, beauty and mystery. Terra Firma is a very compelling place. With this being said I'm not so much influenced by the physical, three-dimensional realities here on earth, but more so by the unseen metaphysical world of feelings, energies and emotions.
Sixth Sense. Kirk Sutherland.
Siberian Mars. Kirk Sutherland.SAH: Who are your biggest influences? Is there a particular artist that inspired you to pursue art?
KS: It's all about colour so I would have to say Hans Hofmann, Matisse, Helen Frankenthaler, Monet, Klee, Kandinsky, Chagall, Barnett Newman, Richard Diebenkorn and so many other masters.
As a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design I was and still am influenced by my professors Paul Sloggettt, Daniel Solomon, Jim Tiley, Robert Hedrick, Graham Coughtry, Gordon Rayner and Francois Thepot.
As a Canadian artist have also been influenced by the likes of Jack Bush, the Painters Eleven, and Montreal's Les Automatistes Nouveaux Plasticiens.
SAH: Do you remember the earliest memory of when you wanted to do what you do today?
KS: I’ve been creating and inventing things all of my life. I remember being very prolific before I could read and write. I intuitively understood and presented pictorial perspective at seven or eight years of age and was trained classically as a teenager.
I have come here in this lifetime and journey to create from an instinctive level. It's as inherent as breathing.
Lantana. Kirk Sutherland.
SAH: Where are your favourite places to view art online?
KS: I don't think I have a favourite place or website. Social media is inundated with art, but I still find I never stop learning from the 20th Century masters, so I'll either search archived images and documents or go to my personal library of books and chronicles.
SAH: Do you have any studio rituals?
KS: I don't have any rituals notably. I have to be alone and a higher frequency of music is important. I feel the process is equally as important as the finished piece. I find myself channelling to higher energy, which isn't at all ritualist, but more so a necessary connection to my higher self.
SAH: What are you working on currently?
KS: I'm working on a series I call The Terrizzo Series. This series seminally concentrates on colour, depth and elements. Like most of what I do these works come from a stream of consciences, influenced by events, feelings and the unseen.
Calluma. Kirk Sutherland.
SAH: What are your ambitions?
KS: My ambitions are keeping up with technology, which is not an easy task, given that I'm somewhat organically analogue in nature.
SAH: How do you seek out opportunities?
KS: I create public art for the City of Toronto, so those opportunities are made available through a project coordinator, designers and developers.
I'm also represented by over ten galleries Internationally and around ten online. There are opportunities made available through them.
I research and keep my ear to track and at times serendipitously opportunities avail themselves as well.
Artists also tend to look out for other artists so my friends and colleagues are covered by me and I sometimes receive leads from them.
SAH: What advice would you give somebody who has just started their artistic career?
KS: First of all, educate yourself. you can't create out of a void. Be a proficient art historian and gain as much knowledge on historical techniques as you can. Second, surrender your ego and listen to your higher self and let your intuition guide you. Thirdly, don't sell out and go against your inherent creative nature. integrity is a must and be true to yourself. Lastly, allow constructive criticism in and block negativity. Making art is self-fulfilling and unilateral in nature, so do what you want to do and make art that you want to see.
SAH: Where can we buy your art?
KS: As mentioned I'm represented by over 10 galleries Internationally and around 10 online, but to simplify things you can go to my social media and purchase through my website at these links.
https://www.kirksutherland.com/