kent paulette                    derfla                        art@derfla.tv

Artist's Statement

From the start of this journey I’ve opted out of symbolism, instead searching for a more direct way to express one core idea.  This has led me to give control over to a process that allows the painting to come to life organically.  The painting is able to occur as an uninterrupted event subject to the whims of chance.

I try to apply the paint without hesitation or indecisiveness, and without reacting to what has already been painted.  In that all-important moment when the paint touches the canvas, I tend to look away, allowing myself to get lost in it. These measures help to fend off the frustration and anxiety that may arise from any lingering tendency to control the outcome.

I do not try to conceal the process, but rather let it be revealed to anyone who is drawn to a closer examination of the painting.  The thick texture and visible knife marks proclaim exactly how the painting was created.

I do not try to form an emotional connection with the subject matter.  It is simply a passive element in the process, nothing more. This deliberate lack of emotion creates the room needed for my emotional argument, my emotional plea.

derfla is alfred spelled backwards.
in high school french class i had to pick a french name and i picked alfred.
the next year there was another alfred in the class so i changed it to derfla.
 

Corky's Page

Artist Kent Paulette stands with a recent painting of musician Erin McKeown. Nathan W. Armes (Record Photographer)

HICKORY - When other people look up and see the shapes of elephants or dragons drifting along in the clouds above, local artist Kent Paulette may not be able to empathize. His imagination is probably elsewhere.

“When I look at the clouds, I always see faces,” Paulette said, “That’s the only thing I’ll ever see, not animals or anything like that.”

It’s not surprising, then, that many of Paulette’s paintings are portraits.

“That human connection,” he said, “I guess that’s just what I feel strongest.”

Paulette, 22, is a Hickory native who paints under the name Derfla. He’s been painting full time for the past three years.

In the past year alone, he’s completed more than 100 paintings. About 60 of those can be seen this month at four locations downtown: Drips’ Coffeehouse, CDX Mixed Media, Glory Bee Gallery and Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse.

Paulette’s paintings incorporate vibrant hues set in unusual color schemes. In his portraits he casts friends, musicians, politicians and other subjects in a unique light. Many of these he paints from photographs, some of which he has taken himself.

For Paulette, the process of painting is a ritualistic enterprise that relies on his instincts. Almost every aspect of a work in progress - the subject of the painting, the colors used, the method of application, the individual strokes, even the music he listens to - is determined by what Paulette calls “feeling-based decisions.”

“It’s physical,” said Paulette. “Most of the time, I’m leaving it to a lower level of consciousness, trying not to think too hard about it.”

So when he’s mixing colors for a painting, he just knows when they’re right, he said. “I see it and it has to be there. I know I have to do it, or everything’s off. If I don’t, it’s like an itch.”

Aside from a few classes he took as a child, Paulette is self-taught.

For influences, he lists Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and the less-well-known mystic painter and philosopher Brion Gysin, whose ideas on expression and personal symbols have had a strong impact on Paulette’s work.

The public can meet with Paulette at a reception Thursday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Taste Full Beans, where some of Paulette’s most recent works are on display. In addition to the portraits, there are several abstract compositions with titles like “Orange Peel Atlantic” and “Spiral Based Hurricanus.”

Paulette said the abstract pieces are indicative of the type of work he wants to do in the future. He said he looks forward to experimenting with color, shape and texture while still capturing the emotions that portraits evoke.

As for seeing faces in the clouds, Paulette said he was interested in knowing what shapes people see in the overlapping colors and textures of his paintings.

“I’m always fond of the idea of everyone seeing really different things in there and having it do something inside of them, where it tells something about them,” he said.
 

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Derfla: The Paintings of Kent Paulette

May 29 through August 29, 2004 (Hickory Museum Of Art)

Process versus outcome is the constant struggle with which Hickory native, Kent Paulette wrestles. Always interested in art, he has been painting full time for only three years now. While he did take art classes through his school years, the artwork in this exhibition is not the result of an extensive art education. Today, Paulette paints to figure things out, not to achieve a specific result. His is a constant process of experimentation, continually expanding on every previous experiment . Artist Brion Gysin has had a major impact on Paulette’s work but music has been the main influence on both his style and subject matter, evident in several pieces exhibited here.

The Wrestlers was one of Paulette’s first paintings and was exhibited at the HMA in 1999 as part of the Annual Paul Whitener Memorial Student Art Show. After dabbling in cubism, he moved on to portrait painting, further taking apart his subjects with various degrees of abstraction. Paulette next challenged himself with geometric accuracy and optical illusion, starting with works such as Mind Trap and Corky Wok with a Smile eventually taking it much further with Pseudo Static then Dialogue with Elvis, both of which were incredibly time consuming and tedious, each taking upwards of 120 hours to complete. Abandoning the tedious geometric style, Paulette, while still experimenting with process, began to focus more closely on expression of emotion and feeling. At this point, his paintings are completed in one day and he experimented not only with style but also with various painting tools such as a palette knife and even a syringe, 2 Days in the Life of Derfla and Back Beate are examples of work from this period.

Most recently, Paulette has moved away from portraiture, abandoning depiction of a subject, opting to focus solely on the display and solicitation of emotion, experimenting with metallic pigments mixed with oil paints, and also with new methods of paint application. Regardless of subject matter, color scheme or method of application, Paulette has learned in his short career that if the creation process is a positive one then the outcome will also be positive. He hopes that his work will challenge viewers while providing an enjoyable experience. Paulette encourages viewers of his work to bring in their own feelings, emotions and experiences in order to create their own individual and unique interpretation of each piece.

-Emily Horton

Area artist pushes the limits with his art

By Barbara Burns
Outlook editor
03-17-05
Email: outlook@charterinternet.com


Kent Paulette feels colors he doesn’t think them.  Yet, his paintings appear to be full of strong feelings and emotions.  The 23-year-old Hickory native admitted that the process of painting involves for him, a ritual, but a ritual that he feels and doesn’t necessarily think about.

“There are no rules,” Paulette said, “and painting is not about the finished product – it’s about the process – a ritual, a by-product of living.”

Paulette credits Beth Marvin, who taught him art when he was in elementary school.  “She helped my creative side,” he said.  Paulette’s art teacher in high school, Tamara Verbiest let Paulette “do his own thing,” he added.  After he graduated from high school he worked on one project: a book of drawings and one painting.  “After that I lit into painting. I guess I wanted to, though,” Paulette said.

At age 19 Paulette completed 10 paintings. At age 21, he painted 100 in a year. Although he has started and completed a painting in one day, that’s not his ethos.  “I am not looking at volume but at taking my time,” he said. “Though, going fast does have its points.”

As most artists, Paulette seems not to care for dealing with the business side of his art – it takes him away from painting, but it is necessary to make it as an artist.  “It’s tough hanging paintings – a lot of work is involved in titling, pricing, printing my bio, business cards – what goes where and how to get them to the show.”  All of that probably mean 20-30 paintings he didn’t get to paint. With a grin he admitted he would like to have an agent but couldn’t afford to hire one.  Also, although he has well over 200 paintings for sale, he hasn’t spent a lot time promoting because he needs to paint and build up his inventory.

His paintings contain aspects of impressionism and expressionism – full of vibrant, almost pulsating colors – using a palette knife rather that a brush. The result, almost three dimensional, is profound.  “Picking colors is weird – certain ones I won’t use that day.” he said. “There are no rules.”

Paulette described a day at the easel.  “I’ll look on the computer for a picture that moves me – I have some stored there, and some I’ve taken. I might manipulate them some. Then I’ll mix colors, paint and be done by dinner.”  His movements at the easel, he said, are often childlike and whimsical, depending on his mood. He stands close to the painting, keeps painting and doesn’t step back. Whatever feeling he gets he feels and lives it through his painting – it just happens.  “I usually won’t appreciate what I’ve painted until it’s hanging,” he said.

Another technique Paulette uses is applying paint with a hypodermic, minus the needle. The paintings take on a living 3-D appearance.  Pointing to one his paintings, Paulette referred to the technique as Ninja splat.  Putting a glob of paint on the end of his palette, he stands back much like a pitcher at the mound, leans back and lets it fly.  “It has all that air in it, I have no control over the paint, and I’m giving up the power to the process,” he said. “I’m really feeling the colors, not thinking. The splat is childlike and mystical.”  When asked if he laughs when he “splats,” he admitted, “well, yeah, actually I do. It’s a feeling of happiness with life.”

As for his future, Paulette said the idea of being rich and famous from his painting doesn’t appeal to him.  “I have big ideas and a message to get out,” he said. “I want people to ask how did you do that, why did you do it that way. That’s where you will find my philosophy about life.”

For now it’s about discovering new styles and pushing the limits all the time.  “I had a real breakthrough the day you called for an appointment and I told you I had to paint,” Paulette said.  He explained his breakthrough in one word and pointed to the painting hanging in his house, drying.  “Geometrics.”
Deep within the limits of the colors, and almost like marriage to the color, are series of triangles.
 

 

	an exhibit of 800
	self-portrait photographs

 

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