About

ARTIST STATEMENT::

After 30 years behind the lenses of film and video cameras, Ron Kendall has emerged back into the world of fine art with a vengeance. His early days studying with notable artists Wayne Thiebauld, William Wiley and Roy Deforest left their mark on him. Kendall found himself at a place in his life where he was compelled to stop filming the real world and start painting the world of his imagination. 

“I never really left fine art,” Kendall explains. “Most of my work in film and video is a direct product of my art. I treat the screen like a canvas. I just reached that point in life when we question the path that we are on. I have always wanted to paint so I just started painting.”

His new works reflect the five decades he has fought against his urges to paint. Each painting is like a haunting journey through a hellish landscape filled with creature-like humans. It is often unclear if the subjects are hopefully emerging into the light or painfully sinking into the darkness.
“My paintings disturb many people,” confesses Kendall, “but they disturb me more than most. I have no idea what they are about or who the people are in them, but I know that everything is familiar to me. Now that I started painting, each canvas becomes part of a dark and tragic movie that will not stop.”

Kendall began his art early in life. His experiences growing up in a military family took him to many places in Asia, Europe and the United States. Each move brought new landscapes full of fresh mysteries and strange adventures. It was during this time that Kendall took to sketching but he did not center on the uncomfortable world around him. All of his sketches reflected the secret world of mystery that he always brought with him to these new locations.

In the early 1970s Kendall attended the University of California at Davis where his work caught the attention of Wayne Thiebauld. Kendall would also go on to study with William Wiley and Deforest while at the campus.
“I learned an important lesson from these mentors,” said Kendall. “They served as examples of talented artists who were willing to devote their lives to art. They inspired me to give it a try but like many others, I was just not quite ready or able to make the total commitment.”

Kendall painted in his spare time since his college experience but these brief periods of painting were few and far between. His works during this time were carefully thought out and underwent many revisions over long periods of time before he would declare them finished. He is now producing a flurry of works that reflect a more direct and fluid style. His woks works have become more spontaneous and prolific after he yielded to his compulsion to think less and paint more.

“I don’t know where this is taking me but my art seems to have a life of it’s own,” said Kendall. “In my commercial work I was compelled to worry about every pixel and every frame of everything I did. The pressure of judgment has suddenly vanished from my paintings and I am now headed in the direction that I always wanted to go. I just am left wondering where it is taking me and why it has taken so long to get here.”