An Indiana painter is showing new work that bathes us in nostalgia for his youth, inspiring us to examine our own.
Kevin West is an Indianapolis-area artist specializing in contemporary abstract paintings and portraits.
And for the rest of the month, the Harrison Center, a community art center in urban Indianapolis, is featuring West’s latest show, Forgotten Graces.
This show is mainly about nostalgia and the little moments that remind us where we come from. Made up of beautiful, expansive oil paintings, itfeatures portraits that evoke specific memories or feelings from West’s early life.
Palette of Possibilities
And in turn, they remind us of similar memories in our own lives through West’s quiet generosity in rendering. Each piece in Forgotten Graces provides viewers a safe and welcoming space to bask in nostalgia with gratitude and joy.
With his background in abstract artwork, where he focused more on color than form, West draws out rich colors in unexpected ways in his newer, more naturalistic portraits.
In New Memories with Pops, two young boys look out at the viewer as they relax in the back of what we can assume is their Pops’ pickup truck. These boys are ready for an early-morning fishing excursion with their fishing rods and other supplies.
While this is all easily recognizable at first glance, a closer look illuminates rich golden yellows, oranges, and greens in the highlights on the boys’ skin. These colors point to the early-morning sunrise and contribute to the overall feeling of nostalgia, reminding us of the times we saw these warm, inviting colors in the early mornings of our own past.
When describing this painting, West wrote, “Laughter, gentle teasing, and the thrill of the catch fill the air, but the real magic is the quiet bond they share on these simple, golden mornings together.” We can each think back on our own similar experiences in the gentle presence of West’s paintings.
Alongside the vibrant colors West draws out in his paintings, he centers the figures in each piece in a way that honors each individual while also evoking a specific memory or moment.
Grannies Rocking Chair
He uses photographic references to start each painting, but as he works, he allows each piece to guide him toward what it wants to become in a very symbiotic relationship.
West has a very gracious, open-handed approach to painting each piece, and, at a deeper level, West’s art practice is to base many of his paintings on his friends’ photos of their kids. The level of care is evident in each painting, whether the subject is a child or an adult.
It is clear how deeply West cares for each child represented and how they point back to a specific memory from his childhood.
They are the best aspects of these memories that point to these moments: what they felt like, smelled like, sounded like. It is a gracious way of painting that makes us seek to create a better future for those who come after us, so they can create their own special, nostalgia-filled memories that will linger for a lifetime.
Proverbs 22:6
To describe the works in the show, West writes, “through color, light, and tenderness, I honor these overlooked fragments of youth, inviting viewers to rediscover the subtle joys in their own pasts. This series is a reminder that some of life’s most profound graces are the ones we almost forget—until art gives them a place to be remembered.”
These paintings provide space to linger and revel in where we come from, and feel proud of and grateful for those moments.
Kevin West’s show, Forgotten Graces, will be on display at the Harrison Center for the entire month of February, and each piece is available for purchase through their website for the next two months.
