From across the sea…

Kim Kielhofner, video artist, drawer (ugh, what a horrifying word) and sketchbook virtuoso is an American living in Canada going to school at Central St Martins in London. She’s been there just a few weeks and is already grappling with what it’s like to have several shows happening at the same time in other places: the first, her ongoing show, In the Hall of Wonders, runs until October 16th at Centre Communautaire Elgar on Nun’s Island. It’s a show of drawings well worth the bike ride or ferry ride (apparently!) out there. As well, as part of the Art POP 2009 line-up, Kielhofner will be presenting a video installation at the Notman House registration venue.

I recently had the good fortune of discussing with her questions mainly concerning In the Hall of Wonders (although the drawings here are not the ones in that fantastic show) as well as other bits and ticks behind her practice.

1. What’s up with the title, In the Hall of Wonders? How do you create the links between your visual world and your written language of expression for it?

The titles are not so important to me in this case because for me the imagery in these pieces is very strong. Sometimes I use text in my work, but it’s much more integrated into the process of the work. Sometimes I will think about a certain phrase from literature or film and work with those ideas. In the case of this show, when I was creating these pieces I wasn’t using any text as a reference. The titles came after, almost as an afterthought.

2. You’re an artist that works primarily in 2 mediums. Could you give a bit of background about each medium and also how your relationships to them are similar, different, etc?

My work manifests itself most often in drawing and video. It all comes from the same process of collecting and working with a visual language. You know how I keep books of things I find, flyers, photos, sketches, even junk from the street. I think I arrange things visually so there is the hint of a narrative, but it’s not completely obvious what it is or I leave enough space for people to bring there own experience to the table. I draw figures but I don’t use any perspective so they all lie flat on a plane, kind of like a dreamscape. One action is not more obviously before another. The dreamscape along with my style of drawing gives a nice reference to a memory from the past.

Similarly with video I have begun to narrate my work but I don’t use a written text so I’m working from memory which creates these nice gaps in the speaking where one gets the sense that there’s something not being said. In my application proposal to Central Saint Martins I discussed these ideas and wanting to work in video installation, in actual space to create an experience.

There’s always an issue of presentation and I think video and drawing are the forms which are easiest to present my work. You know it’s like the question, “Where does the work lie? Is it in the process? Is it in the experience of it?” I’m interested in pushing these kind of questions.

3. Where did this work for In the Hall of Wonders come from?

These drawings are from the same project. It was over the last few years that I did these. They are all on mylar and all contain the same type of imagery which becomes kind of a mythology. These drawings are much more focused than other drawings which were simple, like a single figure. These drawings bring a lot together. When I was making them I was looking at Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights and a lot of pictures of old churchs, but also diverse things like Ian Curtis, Dolly Parton, and Kim Novak. And I also made a video using footage of Kim Novak from the TV show “What’s My Line?” I guess that’s a straight forward example of how my video and drawings fit together! But yes, this was a focused project that took a few years. I’ve done drawing series before but this is the most dedicated.

5. What are you hoping to focus on at Central St Martins?

I’m interested in interior space and memory. I’m thinking of a video following simple actions in house like drinking a coffee, or turning on a TV. Kind of creating a map of the house, but there’s obviously something missing, or something is lost… something you can’t quite put your finger on…I want to create something intimate, something vulnerable about the house. I want to bring this to the gallery into it’s own kind of “house”, to create and experience in the gallery where this space become palpable. Where you can feel it.

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