Kenny Lapins

Lombard, IL
www.kennydarkpoetlapins.com
Social Media: @kennydarkpoet
“Looking at Life Through Chain Link”
Acrylic on Canvas
16” x 20” x .5”
$700
Artist Statement: As I got to know my inspiration, Dave Jones, one thing became clear to me: like me, his role as supportive father is his primary occupation. During our second conversation, Dave told me — in reference to traveling around the country with his softball-playing daughter to watch her games — “I don’t know what to do with myself if I’m not looking through chain link.” An artist seeking inspiration does not typically get such a strong signal. Dave sent me a photo he took of his daughter sitting on the sidelines he had taken with the gray mesh of the fence between him and his talented progeny. As I painted the scene, a double meaning regarding autoimmune disease emerged. Illness can clarify what matters. It can strip life down to the people, places, and moments that become most necessary. But, it can also make ordinary participation more difficult. You can be close to the life you love and still feel separated from it. You can see the field, hear the game, know exactly where you want to be, and still find yourself watching through a barrier. In “Looking at Life Through Chain-Link,” the foreground fence places the viewer where Dave stood: looking through. His daughter, the field, the game, the color of the day — all of it remains visible. The painting holds that tension between presence and distance, devotion and limitation, the life happening in front of you and the barrier that changes how you reach it.