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    Columbus Makes Art Presents Kyle Dineen on Learning to Create For Himself


    “I shifted my thoughts to “do I love this?” instead of “will they love this?” and the magical feeling was back.”

    — Kyle Dineen, Artist

    Dream System is a solo exhibition of a new body of sculptural works by Columbus native Kyle Dineen, on display at Blockfort March 3-26. We caught up with Kyle to learn more about his work.

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    Kristen: How long have you been an artist?
    Kyle: Under the surface, I feel like I’ve been an artist my entire life. It wasn’t until 2015 when I started making little sculptures out of foam board and illustration board when I realized it was my true passion. I became obsessed with exploring new ideas. I learned a lot about myself in that first year of creating. Today, I feel like it’s the exact path that I was always meant to be traveling.

    Kristen: How has your work evolved over the years?
    Kyle: When first starting out, I had very little space to work in so I made small pieces that took a few days or so to finish. I was working with foam board and illustration board, plotting all my points out by hand and cutting the shapes with a box cutter on a piece of glass. A few pieces in, I started to teach myself how to use Google Sketchup to do my design work and get measurements for all the cuts. I also learned how to solder and wire up LEDs.

    In my second year, I became a member at our local maker space, The Columbus Idea Foundry. I signed up for wood shop, CNC and laser cutting classes. I started working with wood and continued to develop my design skills in Sketchup. As an Idea Foundry member, I had much more space to work in and had access to any tool that I needed. Naturally, my sculptures got larger and more complex. In the past couple years I’ve been working with acrylic (plexiglass) and am really enjoying the process and results!

    Kristen: What inspires your work?
    Kyle: Music has been the main inspiration in my work, but there’s definitely some subconscious inspiration from architecture as well. I never really find myself seeking inspiration, but I have found that going to music festivals, live music events and spending some time in nature will “refuel the tank,” so to speak.

    Kristen: What is your creative process like?
    Kyle: This is an interesting one for me. I’ve learned to kind of get out of my own way when coming up with a design. I’ve found that if I’m able to let go of controlling the process and outcome, beautiful things can happen. I refer to this process as “creating unconsciously,” but many artists know this as a flow state.

    Artist Kyle Dineen presents Dream System March 3-26 at Blockfort.
    Artist Kyle Dineen presents Dream System March 3-26 at Blockfort.

    For me this is not something that happens every time I sit down to design something. When it does happen, I usually snap out of it to find that I have more than one design that I love… sometimes completely finished with color and all. This used to only happen when it was pencil to paper. Once I became proficient in Sketchup, I was able to design on my laptop without thinking as well. Once a design is completed in 2D, I use Sketchup to bring it up to 3D and add color. When I come out of a flow state and the design is already in 3D and fully colored, I’ll spend hours trying other color combinations. I almost always end up sticking with the original colors as I can’t seem to find anything else that feels like a better fit. When I get to the point where a design is ready to go, the process becomes very different, very conscious and detail oriented. Essentially I now have my “instruction manual.” I know where to place alignment holes and LED channels, what shapes to cut for each layer, what colors to mix and how to assemble it. All I have to do is execute the build with patience.

    Kristen: How do you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?
    Kyle: Even after doing this for eight years, I still have difficulty describing my work to people. I can tell them that I usually make multi-layered sculptures out of wood and acrylic that are brightly colored, lit with LEDs, and often have a psychedelic feel to them. It’s still tough to truly describe what they are and even what they look like. I’m sure many artists experience the same thing as we are creating our own visual language in a sense and then trying to explain it with existing words, which is just not that easy to do.

    Kristen: Is there an underlying theme in your work and your upcoming solo exhibition at Blockfort?
    Kyle: I haven’t had an intentional theme behind my work but it started out as physical representations of what certain music or moments in sound felt like to me. As I continued to create, the “theme” kind of unfolded into a communication of sorts using this visual language of color, form and light. My upcoming solo exhibition at Blockfort is about peeling back the layers of reality and communicating with what is beyond. I’ve had many experiences over the years that point to reality not being what it seems. I feel like creativity can step over the boundary of what we think we know and reveal an infinite and seemingly impossible world.

    Artist Kyle Dineen presents Dream System March 3-26 at Blockfort.
    Artist Kyle Dineen presents Dream System March 3-26 at Blockfort.

    Kristen: What’s your message to artists that are just starting out or trying to find their style?Kyle: Create for yourself. It may sound selfish at first glance, but it’s far from that. There’s something really special that happens when you create what you want to create and not for anybody but yourself. Sure, you will share your art with the world and be commissioned to create things. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you made what you wanted to make.

    When I made my Instagram about eight months or so into making art, I quickly noticed that I was creating for everyone else. I was thinking things like, “I hope people think this one is cool,” or “will they like these colors more?” I noticed things felt very different than before. I shifted my thoughts to “do I love this?” instead of “will they love this?” and the magical feeling was back. This is how I make my best work. Works that I have a deep connection with and can even be seen by the outside world.

    If I put myself in a box and have limitations and conditions to follow, I can still make some cool things as a designer. When we create freely for ourselves, it allows a deeper part of us to shine through. That is something that you just can’t get any other way.

    Dream System runs from March 3-26 at Blockfort (162 N. Sixth St.). Learn more about Kyle at artbydineen.com and on Instagram @artbydineen.

    Columbus Makes Art Presents is a bi-weekly column brought to you by the Greater Columbus Arts Council – supporting and advancing the arts and cultural fabric of Columbus. The column is a project of the Art Makes Columbus campaign, telling the inspiring stories of the people and organizations who create Columbus art. Learn more about local artists, organizations, public art and events at ColumbusMakesArt.com.

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    Kristen McKee
    Kristen McKee
    Kristen McKee is a co-owner of What? Productions, an experiential design production company in Columbus, Ohio.
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