M Kemper

The works I make reveal certain genuine human experiences – what it is to be alive. They are offerings to states of being; fear, euphoria, alienation and humor. I strive to evolve a vocabulary that is able to assert it’s necessary and allow one to speak.

Philip Guston said, “the problem begins when we see what it is the soul will not permit the hand to do.” You see, I’m still trying to locate my place in this world, in myself. Is is a sublime moment to bring a piece from the firing into the light, to curl a monotype from the press, or experience the awe of things simply beautiful. This is when I feel alive and where the struggle lies.

Kemper was born in Oklahoma City to a British mother and a native-american father. Growing up in teh flatlands, he responded to the inquiry of what he wanted to be when he grew up with the sureness that might be expected of a child. There had already been a tarzan, but his bucket of plastic animals assured him he would be a veterinarian. Later, with a new dad who picked a mean guitar and through the guidance of his grandmother he found a violin at his disposal and knew his destiny was to be that of a virtuoso. The voluminal bliss of being part of a full orchestra did not keep trouble from his heels. Mischief was his playmate. So his mother enlisted him to tennis. His groundstokes improved over the years, but he found his love in creating things. Aspiring to draw as well as his sister and with the support of his high school art teacher and mother he spent three summers to believe that he might foster such an affection. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a split major of ceramics and painting at the Kansas City Arts Institute, he studied printmaking with post graduate work at the University of Oklahoma and photography at Napa Valley College. His curiousity led him to make photographs and paintings while traveling through Europe, Southest Asia and India. His refuge garden and studio are in Napa, California where he continues to dream.