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KYLE PELLET

PEOPLEText: Yumiko Miyagawa

Have you ever thought that you were too old to hang out at a candy store? If you have, you have to check out the paintings by Kyle Pellet. The San Jose, California based artist, Kyle Pellet, creates lots of colorful pieces. When you are checking out his art online or at an exhibit, you might start acting like a kid in a candy store who keeps looking at all of the candies over and over. You want to look more and you want them all.

Pellet’s first solo exhibit was just held at Empire Seven Studios in San Jose. He was able to show many people how awesome the Pellet-world is through this exhibit. In order to understand what is happening in Pellet’s head, I did ‘a three-sentences-interview’ with him. Although he is known as a shy boy artist, three-sentence answers will not give him any opportunity to hide his biggest secrets.

Kyle Pellet

Please describe yourself.

I like spending time with people who don’t talk too much. Sometimes I try to be mean to people and then for some reason I fail (probably because I’m a coward), and I go home disappointed in myself. I look like a gorilla.

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How long have you been painting? How are things different now from when you started to paint?

I’ve been painting for a little over 7 years now. When I started, I was more focused on how to effectively render subjects, like “how do I paint this cow?” or “how do I paint this dude’s hand?” Now, I ask questions more along the lines of “how do I paint the contrast between the feelings I felt when my grandma died with the feelings I felt when I used to eat fried chicken with her when she was alive?”

Why do the majority of your paintings tend to be so tiny?

When I first started painting, I had very little money, and I decided to learn how to paint with the cheapest materials I could get. Once I learned some things, I found it exciting to try and figure out how to make images full of meaning and content on very small surface areas. A lot of people have told me “you ought to do bigger work,” and because of this, my instinct tells me I should focus even more time and effort into making tiny paintings.

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Please describe what you like most about your paintings.

I like that my better pieces tend to be interpreted differently by everyone who sees them. I think they’re ambiguous, but they’re not confusing. Sometimes I paint really dumb looking things that make me laugh, and I like those dumb looking things too.

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© artPerera

How do you feel about your first solo exhibit at Empire Seven Studios?

I was very happy with the entire installation! From the music to the donut house to the layout of drawings and paintings, I felt that the exhibit created a very unique experience. Now that I know how much work it takes to do something like this, I want to do something bigger.

What influences have you imparted on the San Jose art scene?

Moppy hair, bad posture, long fingernails on men. I like to ramble on about the materials and tool I use, but nobody seems interested.

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© Terry Hwang

If you were to stop painting now, what do you think you would be doing instead?

Robbing banks, robbing people I didn’t like, robbing taquerias, hiding from robber-chasers.

What are some new ways that you would like to challenge yourself this year (2011)?

I want to make some short movies, meet people who do awesome stuff, convince more people to do awesome stuff, see more awesome stuff, act more appreciative to friends and family.

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Please tell me what Kyle Pellet will be like in 10 years.

Fatter, dumber, with more gray nose hairs. Maybe smellier too!

Anything else that you would like to say?

Please make the world a better place for me and for you and for your friends and family by giving everything you can to what you love. Be a great musician, be a great dad, be a great counselor, be a great skater… whatever. Devote your life to something you believe in. Thank you so much for listening to me babble!

All right. Are you ready to go to Kyle-world by now?

Text: Yumiko Miyagawa

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