Ted Kuykendall’s photographs are psychologically dark and perplexing, invoking memory and perception on a subliminal level. His imagery is dense in meaning, amplified by what the viewer brings into a personal conversation with these works. Kuykendall relies on unusual juxtapositions of found items—dolls, toys, and discarded junk—to build layered and nuanced theatrical dramas. The stage is one of spatial illusion and the cast of recycled characters pays homage to decay and resurrection. The relationships that develop from these juxtapositions are often marked by whimsy and ambivalence. Kuykendall states, “Working with the found object has been a mainstay in my creative process. Finding things, fragments disconnected from their origin, speaks to my own fragmented sense of self.”

Like a conjurer, Kuykendall is reliant on chemical processes in the darkroom where he coaxes unusual and unpredictable outcomes onto the photographic surface. The metamorphic process is one that relies on artistic vision, manipulation, and chance. Ultimately, the resulting work is distinguished by a rich tonal quality that is bewitching and melancholy. Van Deren Coke noted, “Ted Kuykendall, like a clairvoyant impresario, creates puzzling pictures full of wonders that draw us into a fragile synthesis of anonymity and frightening intimacy. As a consequence, his pictures provide an escape from the mundane world into surreal spaces.”

Ted Kuykendall was first a fellow with the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program in 1985-1987. He bought his first camera in 1975 when working for sculptor and former RAiR fellow Luis Jimenez (1972-1973). His work has been exhibited at the Denver Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, National Gallery of American Art, Museum of New Mexico Art Museum, and the Fine Arts Museum of the University of New Mexico. In 1991 he received the Willard Van Dyke Memorial Grant in Santa Fe. Kuykendall is a native of Roswell.

This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program and the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art. For more information on these programs, please visit their websites at: www.rair.org and www.roswellamoca.org