Monday, July 6, 2015

Words from the Artist

Words from the Artist is a series of interviews with various artist members of Houston Art Showcase by blog editor Ruth Armas

Surrealism was originally a literary movement of the twentieth century that influenced artists of the time to extend exploration of the unconscious mind and irrational thought into an art style that is still with us today. Whether or not Surrealism is your favorite style of art, it is difficult not to have some kind of response in the slightest measure to its thought provoking imagery and elusive messages which it illustrates. Solomon Kane is our featured artist who explores opposing themes of the human experience and experiences from his own life to create and share his style of Surrealism.



"Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit - Correcting Religious Misconceptions" 15" x 20" lithograph – 2000
Solomon Kane



Solomon, would you like to introduce yourself?

I was born in Houston, Texas and Solomon Kane is an alias. In my other profession, I have worked with serial killers, murderers, robbers and some of the worst examples of mankind. I incorporate these experiences into a continual search for good and evil, life and death, and the ultimate meaning of human existence. My alias is a tribute to Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher and father of existentialism, and literally means peace and violence in Hebrew. It is also the name of a character that Robert E. Howard created, a pulp fiction hero.



"Dia de los Muertos" or "No,You Don't Understand" - A Tribute to Bert Long Jr." 
12" x 9" x 4" mixed media - 2013
Solomon Kane



Can you describe your work for us?

My art is a symbolic surrealistic and metaphysical statement on life/death, science/religion, psychology/sociology, criminal justice, (so-called) and what is sometimes mislabeled as ‘mental illness’.



"Where Do We Come From?" 10” x 7” x 5” mixed media – 2011
Solomon Kane




What attracts you to surrealism?

I was naturally attracted to surrealism by exposure to the work of Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Goya, and Pieter Bruegel (The Elder), along with a mix of 60’s album cover art and comics with a little Dr. Suess thrown in.


Can you tell us what “being creative” means to you and when you discovered it was something you had to do?

Not really. Being creative has its own meaning to everyone on an individual basis. It’s not something that one person can define for another. It is even more difficult to describe. It’s like one Senator’s description of pornography when he said that I don’t know what it is, but I know it when I see it.


What kind of routine or ritual do you have before you begin a project?
Do you have a creative cycle or process?

My real life and profession give me an unlimited source of inspiration. The daily grind is an unfortunate ritual I must partake in.



"Ibn Gabriol - What Good is a Seeing Eye if the Heart is Blind" 20" x 30" x 2" – 2004
Solomon Kane




Tell us about one of your favorite works and why it stands out?

That is another difficult question for me. When an artist creates a work, he or she kind of gives birth to this new creation and like some type of physical offspring there are attachments to all of them. If size and time spent was the measure then it would be my work titled “The God of Consumption” which stands about 14 feet tall and contains actual artifacts, relics, skulls and bones.


Do you have a general message that you try to communicate with your art?

Don’t get too attached to life, you’re not going to make it out alive. Sometimes, though, even if only for a short time, it can be a beautiful thing, no matter how ugly it might be. It all depends upon your perspective. You can always find beauty in ugly or ugly in beauty, good in the bad or bad in the good. Life, like art, comprises both. You decide what you want to focus on.



"Understand" 30" x 20" lithograph – 2004
Solomon Kane


What medium would you like to explore next and why?

I am already including things like the following in my work “Mother of the World” - Authentic African Tribal Masks, authentic horns and skulls from Africa, (Kudu in this case) Ostrich egg from Africa,  Wooden orchid made from Hibiscus wood from Bali, Female ½ form and Fiber Glass hands from mannequin, Polyurethane Intermediate, Silicone, Calk, various glues, Car paint, Fabric Paint, Glass Paint, Ceramic Paint, Iridescent and Fluorescent paints, Acrylics, Inks, Dyes, and other mixed mediums on Wood, sealed with Industrial Car Sealer. However, if anyone knows of something I’m missing or could use, let me know and I’ll try it.


Lastly, what’s the best advice you've received, or that you can give us about how to nurture creativity?

Don’t die.
There is a philosophy from the east that says…“Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness, but your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength”.
Everything boils down to our perspective. Bert used to tell me that your perspective is your truth. Take the worst that life has to offer and change it. And to paraphrase Friedrich Nietzche…what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.

To this regard, Soren Kierkegaard said the following,
For what effect this true discourse will produce depends solely upon who the hearer is. There may perhaps have been one in whom this discourse inspires such a dread as he never before has known; but this is not the fault of the discourse, it lies in the hearer. It is not the discourse which has terrified the one, and it is not the discourse which has tranquilized the other; it is the one and the other who in this discourse have understood themselves.

Also from Kierkegaard…
When once affliction has attained what eternity wants of it, the situation adjusts itself properly; for though the pressure remains, it constantly makes itself known conversely as hope, converts itself into hope. Him only can affliction depress who will not be helped eternally; him who wills this, affliction presses upward.”

I guess what I’m trying to say is – don’t try to escape what life has for you. No pain, no gain and all the horrible things in the world can only increase your creativity if you let it.

Going back east, Mencius said he following,
On the one hand, although life is what I want, there is something I want more than life. That is why I do not cling to life at all costs. On the other hand, although death is what I loathe, there is something I loathe more than death. That is why there are troubles I do not avoid…

Basically, if you want to enhance your creativity, don’t avoid the troubles of life; face them head on.


Thank you Solomon for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas about yourself as an artist and your work. You compared life to art in that both consist of what is ugly and beautiful, good and bad in this world. And it is up to us to decide what we want to take from both. Indeed, I would agree that our perspective is what determines what we choose to focus on. Our perspective in that moment with life or with art is reflecting or connecting to our unconscious mind in some way. Additionally, yes…as long as we are alive we are creative beings. We are creative in different ways for different reasons, whether it be for enjoyment or necessity. With good and bad as the conflicting characters and essence of life for all of us, creativity is then the result and evidence of one who is living their truth and expressing their individuality because of what is good and bad in life and we find some healing or a release in that.

You can see and enjoy more of Solomon Kane’s work at his artist website.






























































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