Kay Gasei: Scope or Choice
Having a strong affinity for art, Kay Gasei, a multimedia artist, achieved remarkable feats within a span of less than two years. Notably, in 2021. Securing the prestigious Kate Bryan Soho House Award at The Other Art Fair and successfully completing a residency at Soho.Home.Studio, Kay participated in an impressive count of twenty art exhibitions.
How do you get your thoughts down to these pieces of art?
I like to reference different thoughts. I like the idea of ambiguity - like if you saw something and you don’t know what it was, you just stare and come up with something that is individual to each.
What was the inspiration behind the design of your LØCI trainers?
The design comes from some of my previous paintings that were inspired by the fruit and fire from the Tree of Life. I focused on using the reds and yellows just to add a bit of colour. I really just played around and mixed it all. The ‘s’ on the side is for subject. In some books the ‘S’ is derived from Laconian Psychoanalysis.
How do you feel about people asking questions when looking at your work?
I guess I would say I'm rarely there when people are looking at my work. When I am around, I always wonder if they’re asking about it because they’re interested or to fill the silence? If it’s for the latter, you can usually tell. Silence is fine, there is no issue with just standing there to appreciate a piece in silence. But, if someone is genuinely interested, then of course I do appreciate that because an interesting conversations often rises after.
Would you say your work has changed as you've gotten older?
Probably in some ways, but I guess this is a tougher question because I only started painting for myself in the last two years, previous to this, it was a freelance illustrator. The art I did on my own time was sketches which I still do now, but just adding more and more layers of notes and random drawing each time. My sketchbooks have become a lot simpler in some ways because there's a lot more writing than there used to be. You’ll see a lot more imagery and color in my uni sketchbooks as compared to my sketchbooks now.
These sketches, do they turn into paintings?
I usually have almost four sketches along the walls whilst I create a new piece so that everything can add into a tapestry of the piece. And so it doesn't feel just like a rendering of a smaller piece into a bigger piece, but rather, a genuine evolution.
Who would you say inspires you for your work?
I would say Francisco Goya is my favourite because there is an element of representational talent- pre-modern, pretty modernised over basic representation.
It’s a tough one because I don't always like something for the way it looks. I like the idea because usually a style comes from the message.
Similarly my art can seem a bit sporadic because the way I work is with notes everywhere. But if you're just copying a style, then it's just surface level and you can always tell if that’s the case. You always wonder is this the scope of what you can do or is it a choice and I always try to make sure it’s a constant choice of what I am doing.
