Kay Vass Darling Interview

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, where you're from and what you do!

I am Kay Vass Darling, born in Virginia and now living in Virginia. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Masters of Theological Studies, and a Masters in Information Science. What I do is painting and mixed media/collage.

How did you get your start as an artist?

I started drawing very early on. My mother kept a lot of my drawings and noted on some of them my age. Evidently I was two when I started drawing. I begged and begged for oil paints when I was thirteen and for my fourteenth birthday got a small starter set. My very first painting was inspired by Van Gogh. I took art all through high school, and decided that when I went to college I would major in art. College was a wonderful experience as I discovered that art didn’t not have to be mimetic, which up to that point, was the standard I was told I had to follow. The class in color design and theory was learning a native language that I didn’t know yet. I knew then I would be a colourist as an artist. I was very fortunate that I went to a small liberal arts college in North Carolina (Greensboro College) where the art professors were interested in helping you develop as an artist and finding your own unique vision and style.

What do you love most about what you do?

Playing with color and patterns, especially when I don’t worry about the results and focus on exploring what the work is going to be about. The freedom that comes approaching art as play is one of the things I love most about what I do. It usually means better and more interesting art as it allows for an in depth exploration of the work. I can go where the work takes me. It helps me get over my own visual tics and cliches so that I come up with something fresh and new. But also when I go into my studio, all the other roles I have in life are put aside and I can be just an artist and immerse myself in creating an interesting work of art.

What do you find the most challenging?

Having enough time and energy and physical space to do all art I want to create is a challenge for me. Never seems to be enough. Art exhibit receptions are also hard for me as I feel very awkward at them. They seem to bring out the introvert in me.

When things get tough, where do you find the inspiration to keep moving forward?

In terms of my art career, a sense of desperately wanting to make art and the equally desperate need for money. In terms of making art, usually if I find a work is not coming together and I am frustrated with it, I put it aside for a while, go work on something else, and come back to it with fresh eyes. I usually have four or five pieces going at once. An unusual or unexpected color combination is sometimes enough to get me working on a new piece or go back to an older collage that wasn’t working. I have lots of leftover scraps that I didn’t use in other pieces and I will play around with them and see if I can make something with those. I will also leave a piece up and just live with it, look at it, try different things. I will tape different pieces of paper to it. Sometimes I work flat on a table or floor, and don’t glue things down so I can move shapes around, try different colors or papers till I find a solution. I have done this long enough that I trust that the ideas and solutions will eventually come to me if I just keep going into the studio, keep my eyes open, and keep at it. As much as I talk about playing in the studio, there is an equal amount of just working at it, thinking about the art, and trying things to get the piece to come together and go where it needs to go.

The freedom that comes approaching art as play is one of the things I love most about what I do. It usually means better and more interesting art as it allows for an in depth exploration of the work. I can go where the work takes me.

— Kay Vass Darling

Who is another artist you admire most and why?

I am very much influenced by the Pattern and Decoration movement. Mariam Shapiro is someone whose mixed media work I admire a lot. I love Matisse’s cut-outs and the work of the Fauvists. Traditional needlework, embroidery in particular, are things I want to recreate, in a manner of speaking, with the decorative paper I use. I also love old Byzantine icons where a highly decorated riza has been added to the icon. I often want to replicate that effect of the riza, as well as that of needlework, in paper with color and pattern.

Tell me something unusual that makes you happy.

I like kitsch. Not Precious Moments or Hummel figurine kitsch but pink flamingos, troll dolls, kittens in astronaut suits type of kitsch. I have a big plastic fox with goggles on but it freaks my dog out so I have put it up for now. I deliberately stayed at a motel at the beach that took the seashore/aquatic theme to the extreme. Painted cinder block walls with lots of pink, blue, and aqua green and sea animal murals.

Anything weird on your bucket list?

I want to go see the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, Alabama. It started as a replica of Jerusalem, grew to include the Vatican among other places, and includes a castle of the fairies. It was created by a Benedictine monk. That is about as weird as I get.

Top three songs you keep on repeat?

Stop Making Sense album by Talking Heads
Bach’s Cello Suites
Back on the Chain Gang by the Pretenders

Podcast you can't get enough of?

I listen to the radio, and catch the podcast of Fresh Air with Terry Gross when I miss the show.

How do you fuel for the day?

Coffee first thing and some time in the studio. At some point during the day, chocolate. And reading. And playing with our dog. And texting with a friend. Any one of those things or combination thereof.

Tell us about your vision for the future? Go big! We want to root you on!

I want to do larger and larger work. Wall-sized works. Make a whole lot of small pieces, 11 x 14 collages of the same Madonna, and cover a wall top to bottom, side to side. I would love to do an installation based on one of my still life collages. An entire large room, a kind of Claes Oldenburg meets Yayoi Kusama type of thing that is both two and three-dimensional with oversize teacups and vases. I would also like to do an entire chapel and fill it with my mixed media icons as well as weavings, stain glass windows, and needlework based on my designs.

Kay Vass Darling | @kayvassdarling
Collage Artist | Virgina
kayvassdarling.com