Kim Kunze: Meet the Artist
Kim Kunze, a clinical psychologist, has been painting since she was a kid. She finds painting truly helps her process human experiences and emotions. We had the pleasure of working with Kim on After Dark, Windows GR and storm drains throughout 2020. Checkout more of her inspiring story below as she grows into her career as an artist.
Q: How did you get involved with Lions and Rabbits?
A: I got involved with Lions and Rabbits when they put together the Windows GR Project with Element 7 in 2020.
Q: What themes/ideas are highlighted in your work? Intentions?
A:Currently, I like to explore the impact humans have on each other and nature.
Q: Run us through your creative process - How do you start, flow and finish?
A: When I am painting for fun, I like to jump into a topic that has inspired me and represent that topic in several different ways. If I have a commission, I usually want to get as much of an understanding of what the client wants and to get an idea of the type of art that they’re drawn to. Then, I like to do some research about different meanings and symbols associated with the topic. For commissioned projects, I often draw digitally, then I use what I put together digitally for the final product.
After Dark 202 Two Scotts Barbecue
Q: What obstacles/struggles have you encountered throughout your career as an artist? Or challenges you face through your creative process
A: I think imposter syndrome is a big barrier for me. It was (and can still be) a barrier for me in my early career as a psychologist, so I am sort of glad that I had to go through that and can recognize it as I am developing as an artist. I started to seriously work on developing myself as an artist in my 30’s, so sometimes I feel a bit sad that I could have been further along had I worked more on my art when I was younger.
Q: Can you share a little more about how your art career started. Have you always been in your field? Were you self taught or had additional schooling?
A: I took watercolor lessons from an amazing artist, Debbie Rittenhouse, for several years, when I was in middle and high school. I wish I would have taken more art classes in high school and college.
Q: Who/what are your biggest inspirations that play a key role in the work you produce?
A: Nature is probably my biggest inspiration
Q: Is there anything you wish you could change about your work?
A: I think I get in ruts of trying to replicate what I see too much. I want to dig deeper into emotion and expression with my work.
Q: What mistakes have you made? What did you learn from them? What are you trying to get better at?
A: I make mistakes all of the time. If I don’t know how to fix something, I need to remember that I can practice and redo. Sometimes, I will avoid a piece when I feel like I made a mistake and I feel like I lose my problem solving skills. I can just freeze and fret, which is such a waste of time and emotional energy.
Q: Do you feel supported by your community as an artist? In what ways could you feel more supported?
A: I am still new to the art community, but I have run into some incredibly supportive people– many are through Lions and Rabbits.
Q: Describe a moment when you felt most proud of yourself
A: As an artist, I think it was when I got an opportunity to do a mural for Dwelling Place’s Historic Heartside mural installation in the summer of 2021.
Q: What's most important to you about what you create, and how it impacts others?
A: It has to mean something to me. It could be a sketch or it could be a focused piece of work, but it’s important to me that it means something to me (whether it is symbolically meaningful or if it’s just evidence of a time when I was working on learning a technique). I bet a lot of artists get requests to paint pictures of people’s kids and dogs. There was a moment when I started to get sick of the requests, but I realized that these requests are a chance for me to connect with someone’s bond with a pet or loved one– maybe to help them grieve, or to just give them a personalized piece of art that reminds them of the being they love most. That’s really special.
Q: What's next? What are you currently focusing on or looking forward to?
A: I am working on a series of paintings that focuses on fire (wildfires, etc)
Q: What does being an artist mean to you? What is the function of artists in society?
A: Artists have always been frontrunners in changing history. A lot of things need to change in the world right now, and I hope I can do something that either reflects the struggles we are encountering or helps move along positive progress.
Q: And of course, if you could chose any vehicle to travel, real or imaginary what would it be?
A: mermaid capabilities
Follow more of Kim’s work on https://kkunze.myportfolio.com and instagram.com/kkunze07
Thank you for tuning into this week’s Meet the Artist, be sure to checkout more artist stories every week on our blog!
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