The Traveler

Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Lifestyles

Media Credit: Veronica Pucci Kyle McKenzie's master's of fine arts thesis exhibition, "Empty Walls," is displayed at the Fine Arts Center Gallery. The theme of the exhibit is inspired by memories of his childhood home.

A series of oil paintings that portray interiors from Kyle McKenzie's childhood home is the artist's subject for his master of fine arts thesis exhibition. Five large multi-paneled paintings make up McKenzie's "Empty Walls" exhibit and depict the vacancy of his parent's former house in Webb City, Mo.

His parents' house was imperatively purchased by the city to allow for an extension of a street. As McKenzie was helping his parents move their belongings a few months ago, the artist said revisiting the house where he lived for 22 years was a strange concoction of memories and observations of an unfamiliar place which became "a shell of my former home," he said.

"These paintings began as observations of the empty space," said McKenzie, who painted his pieces by using the dualistic nature of light and shadow by juxtaposing earth-toned colors with gray dimness. "I have always been interested with the peculiar way in which light and shadow are created in the visual world.

"It's interesting that a few geometric shapes can create a real illusion of space," he said.

The artist's interest in light and shadow is observed in his paintings. "Bunk Beds" and "Picture Window" are darker than the artist's pieces, as the colors highlight the overcoming of shadows of the home's emptiness.

McKenzie cites Pieter de Hooch, Giorgio de Chirico, Edward Hopper and Robert Bechtle as influences during his creation of "Empty Walls."

"Their influence can be seen primarily in the tension between the flat organization of the picture plane and the illusion of depth in the images," he said.

Despite the simplicity of the spaces, the nude interiors offer a quiet introspective opportunity for the audience.

"I want the viewer to have an extension of the space when (he) enters the gallery and feel a sense of familiarity and intimacy of the (paintings)," McKenzie said.

McKenzie said the emotional response that he wants to evoke through his paintings is not easy to classify.

"The paintings do not convey a concrete story," he said. "There is a personal interaction between the paintings and me, which the viewer will get, but they won't get the whole narrative.

"The paintings are universal in their depiction of simple domestic spaces, but hold deeply personal reflections on the specific home," McKenzie said.

A reception for the artist will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in the gallery.

"Empty Walls" will be displayed at the Fine Arts Center Gallery through April 30.

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