ART OF LIVING l 3
MUDDY HANDS
Painting with what the Earth has to offer
PAINTINGS BY PETER KINNEY
I A M F A S C I N A T E D with the richness, texture, and sheer
fertility of mud. It seems to hold all death and all potential, both
real and imaginary. In my work I apply mud to paper using my
hands and natural materials such as weeds, grasses, sticks, and
pine cones. I also use berries and crushed petals—whatever is in
season and in abundance (pokeberry, mulberry, wild grape). I like
going back to origins: the chthonic, roots, mysteries hidden, things
buried, death recycled, new life emerging.
The first mud I worked with was from the tidal marshes of New
Jersey, near my home in Pennsauken. But I soon discovered more
colors and textures wherever I traveled—the rich, pebbly, sanguine
mud of Limekiln Creek near Reading, Pennsylvania; the orange of
Asheville, North Carolina; and the coal mud of Carbon County,
Pennsylvania. Wherever I go, my palette evolves as I continue to be
inspired by working with mud and my hands.
— P. K.
COSTA RICA MOON
, 2003
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