Check out Kevin Lucey’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Lucey.

Kevin, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. There was one art teacher in my elementary school, one art teacher for the middle and high school, and not many options for art classes.

I’ve always shown a strong interest in art despite not having a ton of resources or opportunities to study it in school. I can remember making repetitive marks, lines, and grids as far back as I can remember- in places like the margins of school assignments, folders, napkins, dirt, sand. I remember trying to make patterns by pressing my toes in the sand as I walked along the beach as a kid. The fascination with this particular aesthetic evolved over many years and strengthened as I studied art as a student at Montserrat College of Art, in Beverly, MA. I still feel like that little kid at the beach. I never stopped wanting to investigate, learn, and discover new things through making. Currently, I work at Montserrat College of Art as the Exhibitions and Programs Coordinator, and curate exhibitions in the Boston area.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I’m a painter. I use paint to camouflage text and various collected materials under hundreds, sometimes thousands, of layered dots and dashes. Repetitive mark making is a laborious, although integral, part of my process. It allows me to reconstruct the surface of my paintings into a vessel that contains literal fragments of memories and encounters I seek to conserve.

Each painting begins with a memento (letters, photos, tickets, and textiles) that are deeply connected to a specific experience, memory, or love story. These materials organically find their way into my life, not unlike the way letters, notes, doodles from meaningful individuals find their way into all of our lives. While some choose to preserve an object of significance in a shoebox or in a scrapbook, I’m interested in the network of connections we have with one another, and the dialogue that’s created when they’re embedded within a painting. This autobiographical approach to my practice not only allows me to save something inherently meaningful but also to work towards a metaphorical “end” on a significant experience- though I do hope that it transcends beyond achieving personal closure. The viewer should be able to resonate with the work as well, like looking into a mirror at their own experiences or challenges to work through.

Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Surviving. It’s extremely difficult to continue to make and continuing to make is not always as glamorous as it looks. Some of my favorite artists have to work multiple jobs to survive. Often times they make art before they go to work, after work, in cramped rooms, dark basements, and cold garages. It’s not easy to take care of yourself and carve out time to make. I have so much admiration and respect for artists who continue to create regardless of their difficult circumstances.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
People can see my work at Mingo Gallery, in Beverly, MA, on my website: www.kevinjlucey.com, and on Instagram at @kevinjlucey

Contact Info:

• Website: kevinjlucey.com
• Email: kevin@kevinjlucey.com
• Instagram: @kevinjlucey

Image Credit:
Kevin Lucey

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