About the work in Collective Disquiet:

 

"New Contention":

I'm interested in how light can animate proximity, and authenticate figurative presence in space. I explore figure vs. ground as conflict beneath formality whereby in order to process the image means to slow down the view, suspend judgment, and get inside its surface. By reframing these contingencies, the painted figure offers a reminder (to the viewer) of how it's being seen while negotiating its physical material space. New Contention was completed during quarantine in Washington, DC.

 

"After Builder Series #5":

I began creating still life “vanitas paintings” from discarded reference photographs of self-portraits that had been crumpled and tossed aside. The slow process of painting is documentation and reflection about coming to terms with the initial need to discard or revise. My discarded reference photo was crumpled and hung with items on my refrigerator (magnet, newspaper, and postcard). I also included a historic photograph of my grandfather who I never had the chance to meet but saw for the first time in this image — this year. By including his youthful appearance in the painted image, I consider time, legacy, and in-between spaces of a double portrait. 

 

"State of Deliberation":

I examine how elements of identity are often nested inside each other. The side borders are actual tape (temporary) and the top and bottom are painted (fixed). Most of my work, in some way, references constraints, contraptions, or braces from early photography, that might objectify and hold a sitter in place. I'm interested in the introspective and dynamic perception of freedom in organizing how one presents oneself in an image, which becomes a living document of a particular moment, belief, or striving.

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Interview with Kyle Hackett: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4