We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kacee Friedman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kacee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I believe we are never done learning about our passions. Being an artist is my life’s work, and I’m always growing and evolving. I’m a self taught artist who went to school for Fashion Design and Television Production, and worked mostly in Film and Television for most of my life. When I decided to become a full time artist 12 years ago I got serious about learning as much as I could about art. I took community classes, read up on related subjects, took online courses, and of course painted a lot. Through this process I have continued to refine my craft, and have started to create the work I’ve always dreamed of. Twelve years in, and I am still continuing to learn in this way. Just this weekend I took an online color theory course, and read books on composition, spiritual art, and color. My life as an artist hasn’t always been easy, but I love the challenge of improving my skills and continually learning more about my craft.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Kacee Friedman, and I’m a painter living in Woodstock, Ga. I’m married to my greatest supporter. We have a 12 year old son, and a King Charles Cavalier named Waffles (who’s my best studio assistant). Coming from a background in design and production, I create narrative, fashion-driven work. For the last few years I’ve been painting women in designer clothing in natural settings. My work is not based in reality, but rather a more dramatic, saturated place. My current series Fashion Figuratives uses fashion house models with moody pouts who have landed in slightly surrealist landscapes. In it’s most recent iteration, I’m painting AI generated backdrops to speak to the current shift in our culture towards the technology. I use mostly runway and campaign photos (for purity of brand) as the women’s reference. However, I take artist liberties to suit my mood and purpose of creation. While I paint my pieces, I ruminate on stories that run through my subconscious. I include symbols and colors that hint at these often spiritual narratives. My clients are mostly fashion and pop culture enthusiast like me, and I work to capture the cultural vibes for them. I think of it like creating a fashion time capsule that will forever hold our love of the current aesthetic in their homes. This work is also my way of obtaining what most find to be the unobtainable (the perfect Gucci or Miu Miu look). I may not always be able buy the designer dress, but I’m able capture it as a way to transcribe fashion’s history and my love of the outfit. I truly adore these creations, and the fashion they’re inspired by on a soul level, and it brings me so much joy while I paint.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I’ve had to unlearn was that I’m allowed to use certain references for my work. Right now I’m exploring painting the current runway looks in my work. I take inspiration directing taken from the fashion house’s shows, magazine ads or websites. In the past I felt that while it was okay to illustrate these, I shouldn’t use them in my paintings. It’s still a debatable subject, and it feels like a bit of a rebellion to me. However, there’s meaning in creating my current work in this way. It’s taken time to feel comfortable with my process. It may not seem like the “right way” to do it for others, as there are blurry lines around ownership and what licenses artists are allowed to take. While debating this decision I looked to those who have come before me for courage, noting other artist painting famous people, logos, or well known cartoon characters. This research helped me move forward with my current creations with more confidence. I now show up using my skill set to freely create the work my soul wants to come through.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that I can create pieces that tell the story of my soul. Painting gives you a way to express the inexpressible. I am grateful to spend my life as a visual story teller, knowing that the song of my heart can speak to others in a way that my words sometimes cannot.
Contact Info:
- Website: Kaceesix.com
- Instagram: Kaceesixart