Jason Boyd Kinsella refers to himself as “a collector of things at heart.” The manner in which the Toronto-born, Oslo-based artist (previously) assembles shapes and colors appears to emerge from this lineage, his impeccable ability to capture a particular human emotion through abstract forms on full display.
Alchemy of the Eternal Self is Kinsella’s most recent body of work and continues his bold portraiture focused on the building blocks of our inner lives. Standing several feet tall, the geometric figures loom larger than most viewers, their bold personalities inviting an encounter.
Kinsella zooms out in some of the pieces in the series, including “Luna” and its titular hunched character. With a sleek, white bob and perpetual frown, the figure’s long fingers reach for the ground as she turns to look out of frame. Exploring body language in addition to facial expressions, the artist also turns to art history, drawing the woman’s bent posture from Jean-François Millet’s “The Gleaners.” The large-scale painting, completed in 1857, garnered sympathy for the lowest classes and showed their essential labor.
In this way, Kinsella puzzles together both the timely and enduring, prompting connections through his Cubist paintings in which pure feeling and expression show that no matter how different we appear, we’re all made of the same emotional DNA.
Alchemy of the Eternal Self is on view through October 24 at Perrotin in Shanghai. Keep up with Kinsella’s work on his website and Instagram.
