Winsor Kinkade: Making Sense of the World
Winsor Kinkade is a multimedia artist, community mental health clinician, and educator living and working in California whose work is focused on engaging, inspiring, and supporting marginalized and underrepresented communities who have been impacted by trauma and mental health struggles. With a bold color palette and photographic sense of composition, Winsor’s paintings perfectly balance storytelling with technical virtuosity.
How did your creative journey begin?
My creative journey began with drawing as a child as a way to process my emotions and make sense of the world. By the time I was a teenager, I had filled up over a dozen sketchbooks.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Mostly in times of silence when I’m intentionally connecting with the land and my natural surroundings. In conversations and encounters that leave me with more questions than answers. In the continual process of falling more deeply in love with my community. Being involved in liberatory social and political movements, and seeing how potent art can be when used as a form of resistance.
How has your work evolved over the last few years?
I’ve started painting in oil, expanding to bigger canvases, and shifting through various flavors of portraiture. My ink drawings have continued in a similar style to include words and phrases that are significant to me during that particular time.
What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?
My full time work is in community mental health, and time in the studio is a tasty morsel on weekends or time off. However, I do have my rituals for when I’m starting my creative work, including tending to my altar, prayers, and dancing. I also like to think my artistic practice happens in many moments outside of the studio – in the community, in the streets, marching for justice. Every day, we engage in creative work as we build new worlds in and around us.
Which experiences have impacted your work as an artist?
All my life, I’ve been deeply curious. As a kid, I was often scolded for staring, either at someone or off into the distance. Our world is built upon systems of inequity and oppression, and my curiosity couldn’t let this be. Why some, and not others? What’s on that person’s heart and mind? My art has always been an outlet for this wondering, and a container for dreams of something better for us all.
How has social media impacted your work?
I’ve had the opportunity to meet incredible artists, dreamers, and changers through social media. There have been many collaborations that were born through a connection online. However, as an artist and as a human, it’s a challenging platform that can be deeply problematic and harmful. Finding a balance has been key.
Your work has a strong sense of narrative. How do you come up with your imagery?
Most of my imagery comes from vague memories, stories, and imagery that comes in dreams. Ultimately, my work is a prayer for collective liberation. Free Palestine.
Website: winsorkinkade.com
Instagram: @winsorkinkade_