02 Sep 2021 Celebrating Artistic Excellence: Kevin Kresse

By Aaron Brand

The human form is everywhere in Little Rock artist Kevin Kresse’s work — sculpture, paintings, drawings — and his love for portraying our physical selves will soon find a home at the U.S. Capitol.

Kresse’s sculpture of Arkansas native Johnny Cash will greet Capitol visitors with the unique personality of a truly iconic singer, one of the greats raised in the Natural State’s Mississippi County.

But Kresse’s work has captured our essential humanity for many years.

Whether in galleries, exhibitions, or out on the streets and in parks, Kresse’s art brings to the outward form our inner selves, capturing more than just surface appearance.

That’s true with sculptural projects like one depicting Fort Smith, Arkansas–born Gen. William O. Darby — the World War II Darby’s Rangers leader. Sculptures like “Storytime,” which shows an older man reading with a child, and “The Family,” which shows parents playing with their kids in Little Rock’s Two Rivers Park, do much the same.

“I like the storytelling and the emotional impact of people. That’s what I’m usually drawn to,” Kresse said.

He strives to bring a level of emotion and gravitas, another layer of depth, he said. He wants to go beyond the simple likeness.

The Cash job is where Kresse has directed his energies recently. “I had actually already started on a series of Arkansas musicians on my own. I’d gotten a commission to do Levon Helm that was over in the Delta,” he said.

He started thinking about all the top–tier musicians from Arkansas. Thus, Kresse started on a 1960s version of Johnny, but the Washington, D.C., project soon popped up, courtesy of the Arkansas legislature.

In a way, he had advance work done on a face tough to represent. “Because he has a very difficult face to get right,” Kresse reflected. He retooled his idea for more of a 1970s, TV show look to Cash’s form. “As an artist, you go mouth, nose, eyes, all parallel – nose right down the center of the face. That’s just sort of a hardwired thing that you do when you’re sculpting. His are just all slightly off,” Kresse said about Cash’s face. 

That was a challenge, along with Cash’s personality.  

“I’ve said before if you do a biopic of someone, you have a couple of hours, and it still falls short. To try to freeze–frame somebody in a millisecond and convey all of this about someone’s life is quite the challenge,” Kresse said.

But he was clearly up to the challenge and, ultimately, tapped for the job. The Cash family even said they wanted a ’70s–era Cash when three finalists were chosen, Kresse explained.

He wanted to do more of a personal version of the man, rather than just the icon.

“I think it has more emotional power,” Kresse said. “When you’re working, sometimes things just feel right, and you know you’re on the right track.”

Other aspects clicked. Kresse found a Cash tribute artist to model for him. “Long story short, it turned out that he uses the same designer and tailor that made Johnny Cash’s clothes,” he said.

Kresse uses an oil–based clay. He first did a 3–foot, full–figure model, then a bust where he worked out the likeness. After winning the job, he said, the Cash family was happy with what they saw.

“Actually, I’ve kind of done most of the heavy lifting,” Kresse said. He will now work with an enlarged version of the figure – roughly 8 feet tall – with clay going on the foam figure as he sculpts details. Then it will be cast in bronze.

“I’ll probably end up going with a dark patina because he was the Man in Black, and probably lighten up some of the skin tones, highlights,” Kresse said.

He will visit the place where the sculpture is destined to sit near the Capitol entrance in D.C. and think about the lighting before completing the figure.

For Kresse, he feels a responsibility to nail it and do his best. Currently, there are a lot of questions about the installation date, but the goal is to have it there by the end of 2022.

“To be an Arkansas native son doing an Arkansas native son going to the U.S. Capitol, it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me artistically in my career,” he said.

Looking at his body of work, it clearly hangs together. Earlier in Kresse’s career, teaching at what was then the Arkansas Arts Center gave him a chance to learn more sculptural techniques.

He then learned to cast bronze, and it all built from there, he said. Commissions rolled in. His interest in the figure that he explored via painting and drawing found a natural growth point in sculpture.

“I’ve been able to support a wife and three kids doing sculpture and painting and everything now for 23 years,” Kresse said.

Public art like the “Mother Earth Fountain” in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock brought his talent and vision to a new audience. He dedicated that massive, large–hearted, yet peaceful cement sculptural work (with mosaic flowers) to his late sister.

“I really enjoy doing the public work because I was reaching people that I wouldn’t normally reach just in the gallery shows,” Kresse said, adding, “That’s still one of my favorite pieces.”

His “Icarus” series of oil paintings shows that same heart and humanity, referencing the mythological son of Daedalus who flew too close to the sun. The meaning hits close to home.

“That was all about a good friend of mine who died. He was from New York. He burned hot. He was a special guy,” Kresse said.

A series of self–portraits he collected under the name Dorian Gray Gallery at his website shows him tackling the timeless theme of aging, referencing a classic literary character with his personal touch.

“They’re all me. I turned gray early,” Kresse admitted. Back when he was doing those in the 1990s, he observed that people did not have cellphones and could not take pictures all the time.

Kresse doesn’t do many shows at galleries now, focusing more on public art. “I love the unexpected encounters with people. Well, the ‘Mother Earth,’ for instance. I had a woman come up to me and tell me that she and her daughter would go there every week to pray, and I was like, wow,” Kresse said.

Artists do work and walk away, but people see the art when the artist is away. They have their own experience.

“I’ve seen a couple of weddings take place there. Things like that are very special,” Kresse said, noting last year he painted his first mural at a 7th Street underpass in Little Rock, a response to what befell George Floyd. “That was one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had really, just people stopping and thanking us, people coming up and donating money, bringing food and drinks,” Kresse said. “It was just a very fulfilling endeavor to do.”