Patrick Kikut
Region: West
The themes in my work come from my extensive highway travel.
Traveling has allowed me access to compelling landscapes,
ecologies, histories, and cultures. These things help me gain an
understanding of the West and drive the work I produce in the
studio. I often find myself making field drawings in what feels like
a place between a lonely paradise and a windswept crime scene.
My intention with this work is to offer a sense of the poetry and
reality of the expansive spaces I find between our protected
National Parks and Forests. It is important for me to include
representations of our ever-encroaching culture onto these
landscapes. During my travels, I seek out locations that read
like an empty stage set, where all the actors have left their props
and abandoned the scene. This, I hope, offers the viewer an
opportunity to step into the image and put together a narrative.