Rolling onto the next entry in our comprehensive survey of Colorado's enormous live art scene, I'd like to introduce you to one of that scene's freshest faces.  Kenzie Page has been painting in a live context for less than a year...and yet that hasn't stopped her from swan-diving directly into the fray, where she is now a regular feature at local venues like The Fox Theatre and The B-Side Lounge, as well as having her artwork displayed in the visionary art gallery at Sonic Bloom 2009, Colorado's premier electronic music festival.  Her enthusiasm is infectious, and the following inspirational interview reminded me why I got into this craziness in the first place...

MG:  What got you started painting at concerts?  (And what KEEPS you painting at concerts?)

KP:  First of all, my insane obsession with music. Krystleyez was the first live painter that I’d ever seen, and the Fox Theatre in Boulder.  The connection between her and her canvas was like tiny fireworks exploding before her eyes. I was a painter as well and I realized that creating in my living room alone at home was not a positive way to create. I was painting out of strenuous emotion and felt that if I can paint extremely sad and angry, what would my paintings show out of euphoria, like that of the light that was emanating from Krystle’s mind? What keeps me painting is the music. At first I though I was doing it all for fun, but as I starting getting more shows and diving in deeper I found a place where I can ride along with the music on a rollercoaster of color. As I reach a meditative state staring into the intertwined threads of the canvas a whole world in itself opens up, and I’ve realized that this world is my inner subconscious. I almost feel as though me physically painting is like physically playing an instrument; each note coincides with each stroke. Simultaneously creating with musicians brings the both artist and musician up to another level where together they are reaching toward the same collective channel of imagination. We create a musical dream that dissipates with the last [person] that [leaves] the venue.

MG:  What are your media and methods?

KP:  I mostly use acrylic paint, watered down. This allows me to glaze over previous layers of color to reach a deeper intensity. I usually like beginning a canvas at the venue because I want to try and capture the entire vibe, from beginning to end. Other times I will bring in paintings that have been started before, mostly because I’m your typical starved artist/student unable to afford another canvas. Before I start each painting I try to sit and meditate, or be still, so that I can more easily reach the level I want to when the music starts, and not have to work my way through. 

MG:  What are you trying to "capture" in your paintings?  For some people, it's the band; for others, it's more abstract.  Some people don't even know what they're painting, or care if it has anything to do with the concert.  Other people are very specific about their intentions and representations.  Where do you fall in this?

KP:  I think I fall directly in the middle of caring and not. There is definitely a positive intention behind my work, but you have to let yourself go enough to the point where a divine intention can flow from your subconscious. Letting go and throwing yourself towards the darkness is one of the most difficult things I’ve encountered as an artist. Sometimes I attempt to capture the music and vibe of the show. Or sometimes the piece becomes a little dream world that I was living in for the entirety [of the] show. I see the music through a rainbow of color in my mind and I try and capture that on the canvas. I guess you could say I’m practicing using my synesthesia.

MG:  In what ways have you grown as an artist since you started painting live?

KP:  My painting skills have definitely increased through consistent practice. Also my meditation and concentration skills. But, most of all I would have to say that my confidence was the one thing that was forced to grow. Standing in front of an audience, having no idea what you’re going to paint, and just throwing yourself into it, hoping for the best, is an extreme way of losing that inner fear of putting your true self out there. We all want to express ourselves and that’s why I get such great responses, it’s just actually doing it that is the difficult part.

MG:  What have been some of the most amazing moments for you, in the live painting environment?

KP:  The reactions from people viewing my work literally send me into a blissful frenzy. The process of creation is one of the most beautiful things that I’ve seen humans to do. Whether it be creating through art, music, or relationships, humans starve to create. Being able to show others that process is why I’ve grown quite attached to live art. That process is my finished product, that cannot be bought, sold, recreated, or touched. It is a work of art that exists only in the deepest memories of those who experience it, and I see it as more permanent that any physical piece.

MG:  What have been some unforeseen complications or challenges in live painting – both artistically and in terms of the business?  How did (and do) you deal with them?

KP:  There will always be hardships in the things that you do, and keeping the strength and confidence to overcome them is probably the hardest things I’ve encountered. The issues range from not being able to find an outlet to plug a light in, the crazed ego heads that work at the venue, to selling my pieces and having to let them go. Ironically enough the hardships that I’ve encountered as an artist mirror those hardships that I’ve encountered in life. Such as finding my own outlet to illuminate my inner light or the confidence to continue, bullies and negative-Nancy’s, to my parents letting me, their creation go, and further on to greater things. So I see these troubles as practice problem solvers for when real issues arise. And plus, you’ve got to experience the bad to know how good the good is. 

MG:  Do you consider live painting to be a single coherent movement or emergent art form?  If not, do you think it'll ever be?

KP:  I believe live painting to be all of the above. Live painting brings a new spin on how art is viewed. There is no price tag to view it, and it’s not hanging on a stark white wall in the middle of a quiet museum. It doesn’t show a finished product, it shows the process of creation, which I think more are interested in. The best part, I believe, is that the viewers not only get to see a beautiful creation, they get to experience a connection with the actual artist, who is directly in their existence. Understanding the artist is key to understanding their connection with the piece and the collective connection to the divine light. A person getting to experience the entirety of performance painting is most likely going to remember it more that the pieces they viewed in the white-walled museums. It’s just another way of introducing visual arts into other’s lives.

MG:  Where can people find your work?

KP:  My website is kenziepage.com and still very much under construction. Hopefully it should be finished by the end of the summer. Also my myspace page works wonderfully:

www.myspace.com/macziepaints