Colin Kippen
This summer I embarked on the GLEAN residency and, because I am required to source almost all art materials from the dump, had to shift media from cement to paper/cardboard/pulp casting. Now, after creating a half-dozen pieces using paper pulp, I am still trying to understand this new material. Where I once relied on the fidelity of cement's surface to the things it touched, I now wait days to see how the paper pulp distorts, twists and shrinks back from the original. The paint treatment of my castings have pivoted as well: where I once could rely on the control and even flow of airbrushed acrylics, I now sort through old spray paint cans to find ones that don't sputter, ones that have enough left in them.
Pot Holder, paper pulp, spray paint, non-stick skillet, 24" x 12" x 4", 2021
Pot Holder (alternate view), paper pulp, spray paint, non-stick skillet, 24" x 12" x 4", 2021
Pot Holder (alternate view), paper pulp, spray paint, non-stick skillet, 24" x 12" x 4", 2021
Catch Me If I Fall, paper pulp, spray paint, window screen, 26" x 24" x 5", 2021
Catch Me If I Fall (alternate view), paper pulp, spray paint, window screen, 26" x 24" x 5", 2021
Catch Me If I Fall (alternate view), paper pulp, spray paint, window screen, 26" x 24" x 5", 2021
This artwork was created as part of the GLEAN program - a collaboration between Recology, Metro and crackedpots working together with artists to raise public awareness of environmental needs such as source reduction of waste, recycling and resource conservation.
Colin Kippen was born in San Francisco and grew up in rural Vermont. Along with a nine-year apprenticeship to a jeweler, he holds an MFA in Craft (2015) and a Post-Bacc Certificate in Metals (2006) from Oregon College of Art and Craft along with a BA in Studio Art (2004) from Carleton College. His sculptural practice loosely references domesticity, waste streams, gender roles and masculinity. Colin is currently an artist in residence with the Metro/Recology GLEAN program and has been sifting through piles of refuse to create a new body of work. Colin is an adjunct professor of sculpture, design and drawing at Portland Community College and Clark College in Vancouver, WA. He lives and works in Portland, OR.
Lane Departure: a virtual, faculty biennial by Clark College art professors
