Kris Kuksi is not afraid of the dark. In fact, it’s a place he thrives, creating mind-blowing, intricate sculptures out of macabre found objects and figurines. These large scale three dimensional visions resemble the long lost craftsmanship of a baroque sculpture but maintain a modern dark beauty that brings together the mechanical with the natural, the deities with the devils.
Kuksi lives and works on his farm house in Kansas, providing him with the space and serenity to create as well as a direction connection to the naturalistic themes in his work. He grew up looking at dead things, drawing the perfect contortions of decay that to another might be morbid. But Kuksi is not afraid to bring forth what is in all of us, a darkness and fascination with death. These assemblages force us to see the dark and creepy thoughts within ourselves, but then upon looking closer, realize the large horrifying picture is just a bunch of toys.
Seeing Kuksi’s symmetrical creations on paper is one thing, but observing them in person is like visiting a dreamscape, too beautiful to be a real nightmare. In his new solo show at the Joshua Liner gallery in New York titled Revival, Kuksi’s sculptures come to life giving us a rare opportunity to look closely at many layers of each intricate creation. And if you happen to be at Art Basel Miami Beach, make sure you visit the gallery’s booth at Miami Projects which will show Kuksi’s new creation, apparently centered from a screaming primate.
See more examples of his brain-shattering sculptures in the slideshow above:
Revival will be on view at Joshua Liner Gallery until January 18th, 2014 and be featured at Miami Projects December 4-8th.
