Kris Kuksi: The Master Visionary

What happens when gods and goddesses, animals, flying machines and weapons are combined in one sculpture? A wonderland is created. This is the first word that comes to mind when looking at a piece of art created by sculptor/painter Kris Kuksi. “Ooo’s” “Ahh’s” and silent stares soon follow as your eyes feast on the visual meal Kuksi serves up in each of his pieces.

The Springfield, MO born, Kansas raised artist specializes in awe-inspiring sculptures that are hard to explain but easy to grab your attention. Before Kuksi got into sculptures, his artistic journey began as a painter.

“Ever since I was very young I always drew pictures or occupied my time with being creative,” he told DeviantArt.com. I had realized that I could out-draw all the other kids in grade school, so I was gaining some pretty good confidence in my early years.”

He further explains to CoilHouse.net: “My grandmother was very intelligent, she was able to show me the world through a few small books and always provided me with pencil and paper to draw. But art really changed my life when I first went to Europe when I was in my early twenties. I knew I always wanted to be an artist but I was deeply inspired by the great art collections of Europe,” he said.

His drawings and paintings are just as much of a wonderland as his sculptures, which is rare to see in art today. Two of his paintings, “An Iris After The Rain” and “Chimpanzee In Captivity” particularly took my breath away and had my computer screen zoomed in as far as it could go. Kuksi’s ability to transform any medium and turn it into an eye-popping event is what makes him a master visionary, possibly the best.

His inspiration is “derived from the Baroque and Gothic style architecture,” he explained to DeviantArt.com. “I try to marry that with the modern world of industrial structures and design. But overall there is social commentary that I am after and so I do draw a lot of ideas from society and philosophy.”

With his latest exhibition, rightfully titled “Imminent Utopia,” Kuksi continues his trend of visually entertaining sculptures. The story behind this collection is based on the “what happens after the fall of man,” Kuksi explained to The Joshua Liner Gallery. “Historically what happens next, what is created from the rubble of man after he’s collapsed to his own follies, wars and battles. This is a reenactment of some potential that could be built with the remnants of mankind.”

Since I can’t completely put his works into words, in an interview with The Joshua Liner Gallery, Kuksi describes his collection as “a fantastic world with many examples of city-like structures, lots of sculptures, animals, fantastic flying machines and all sorts of things. There’s a lot of sensuality, there’s a lot of aggression, anger, there’s love, there’s hate, there’s lust. Everywhere you look there is something happening; something funny, something bizarre, something very suggestive, but there’s something going on that tells a story no matter where you look,” he said.

The mystery behind his sculptures is the medium he uses and what he does to make the pieces come together. To this mystery, Kuksi simply explained to DarkRoastedBlend.com: “I use ‘things’. These things are pre-fabricated, injection-molded, press-molded, mass-produced, kitschy, weird stuff all brought together in a very articulated way that involves imagination, skill, math, craftsmanship, paint, and lastly, magic.

To see more of Kuksi’s amazing work visit his website: http://kuksi.com/

-Alexandria Richard