Interview
Kyle Sorensen
Canadian artist, Kyle Sorensen, is best known for his rich portrayal of landscapes through the lens of geometric abstraction. Resonating with the Cubists, as well as the language of hard edge painting, Sorensen’s fractured acrylic landscapes are a fresh approach to traditional landscape painting. Inspired by the vast beauty of Northern Ontario and the waters of Georgian Bay, Kyle’s work focuses on dissecting these three dimensional landmasses in to their simplest two dimensional form, with immense concentrating on bold colours and razor sharp transitions. Sorensen’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and venues in Canada since his first solo exhibition in 2013. Kyle was also nominated for the “BMO 1st Art Award” in 2013.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I've been painting for many years - stretching back to my childhood. I knew from that time that there wasn't anything else that I found had the same grip on me. This lead me to studying Fine Art & Cultural Studies at York University in Toronto, completing my BFA in 2014. Following my BFA, I continued to paint and exhibit my work while also maintaining a full time job. It was only during the pandemic in 2020, that I turned my obvious passion of painting into my full time job, and started my own business.”
What inspires you?
“Whilst at University in Toronto, I was constantly surrounded by large metropolitan spaces; concrete, construction, confusion. These spaces and elements naturally influenced the way I created artwork, as well as the subject matter of these works. My focus at the time was representing these metropolitan spaces through painting nonrepresentational forms that mimicked the colours and forms of skyscrapers and angular architecture. Several years after completing University, I moved to a northern community about 3 hours from the city; a small town on the shores of Georgian Bay that held great significance for my family, who had been visiting this area for over 60 years. Georgian Bay brought a new wave of reference material, and inspiration. Living in an area that had constant access to sunshine, towering pine trees, and blue sparkling water was such a relief having been surrounded by concrete for so long. My new surroundings began to influence the way I approached creating. My paintings began to reference the scenes that were in front of me. Where there was only hard edge forms prior began to now spring abstract forms resembling open water, rock forms, and trees. I now choose to further these landscape forms in my artwork, letting my environment inspire me. Letting nature influence the way I see the world.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I always begin my process with a place. A place that I am drawn to for whatever reason; sometimes it might be my interest in how the waves crash against shoreline, or perhaps the way the sun sparkles on the blue water. I’ll snap a photo with my camera and revisit these images later in my studio where my mind will begin to reduce the image into various geometric shapes and colours. It is by reducing the image to various intersecting planes that you are left with an abstract image of where you once were, or how you felt when you witnessed this place. From these concept sketches, I begin my paintings. Working with acrylics and Canadian Birch panels I paint and create a fragmented memory of the place I once sat. The end result leaves the viewer with a familiar feeling; like they’ve been there before, or they can remember how it felt when they were in that moment. It need not be an exact replica of the image I saw through my own eyes, rather an image that prompts your other senses; temperature, smell, location. And to me, that is the most important part of my practice – feeling, remembering, contemplating.”
“I now choose to further these landscape forms in my artwork, letting my environment inspire me. Letting nature influence the way I see the world.”
How would you describe your work?
“Fitting my own work into any one category is always difficult. When does any one image become "not abstract enough," or when does one image come across as "nonrepresentational?" It's of course an age old question. Having said that, I tend to describe my work as abstract landscapes. I resonate with the Cubist's approach to creation; the process of deconstructing forms and perspective to create a new version of what you once saw is beautiful. It's a way of viewing the world through your own eyes, abstracting the landscapes I see day after day.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I am most drawn to artists that create and celebrate art in a very different way than I choose to. I love when artists find their very own speciality, whether it be completely abstract, sculptural, or even hyperrealism. My currently favourites are: CJ Hendry, a New York- based artist; Celia Lees, a Toronto- based artist and Samara Souter, a Toronto- based artist.”
What is your creative process like?
“Much of my process begins by immersing myself outdoors. Gathering images and reference material from the beautiful and tiny spot on this planet that I call home. After capturing countless images, I return to the studio to begin dissecting these often complex images into their simpler forms. Focusing on colour, form, and sharp transitions. I spend many hours preparing my painting surface, mapping out my final image, and of course applying paint to panel. Painting in a hard-edge abstract style requires me to tape every shape I paint to ensure each transition, or edge, is perfectly crisp. This process in itself is incredibly time consuming, but, luckily a process that I find quite enjoyable.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I've always felt that the role of an artist is solely determined by the artist themself. Society will always have expectations for what a successful artist looks like, however, it's rarely correct. Each artist has their own idea of what success looks like to them. Success to one artist could be selling a single painting in a year. To another artist, it could be vastly different. For me, I find happiness and peace in creating. Getting to create artwork that I want to create, and to have that artwork be shared with collectors, and galleries, and corporations is unreal. My role, as an artist, is to continue to create and share the way I see the world. I hope other artists see their role in a similar light. We are so fortunate to be able to create, and share, and expose people to artwork that they may not have experienced before. We need not fit the mold of any predetermined notions of how an artist should look, or act, or work. Our experience is entirely our own.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I am represented by the following Ontario Galleries: Canvas Gallery (Toronto); Cloud Gallery (Orillia) and Ryan Fine Art Gallery (Port Carling). I will be exhibiting at The Artist Project in Toronto from April 11th until the 14th, 2024.”
Website: www.kylesorensen.net
Instagram: @ks.fineart
