Kalven Duncan
through this window, another side

January 7 - March 19, 2022
Opening Reception January 7, 5-8 PM

In their most recent body of work, Kalven Duncan employs alternative photographic processes as a forum to study their ultra-personal symbology and the extent to which their queer identity informs their perspective. through this window, another side is a byproduct of questioning symbols that harbor personal importance by isolating images that invoke inspiration, nostalgia, or are pulled directly from their past. Kalven utilizes primarily the cyanotype process to achieve this due to the attractively unpredictable nature of the medium, the accessibility of the materials, the use of the sun’s rays, and because the process affords time spent with the image and to contemplate reactions to the use of dead space, surface, scale, orientation, and preparation.

through this window, another side alludes to Kalven’s use of the contact printing method, in which the negative is held directly to the printing paper by a glass pane during exposure. The title also refers to the mindset with which the artist approaches the project, peering through the visual vocabulary of self to further understand their individual queer experience.

Bio

Kalven Duncan is a multimedia queer artist based in Chicago, Illinois. With a background in art history and without extensive formal studio experience, they have switched gears and begun focusing on building a career as a studio artist. Kalven has exhibited throughout Missouri and Kansas at InterUrban Art House in Olathe, Kansas; Art Saint Louis; St. Louis Artists’ Guild; and Columbia Art League. They have also been exhibited and published online through The Coastal Post, ode to queer, Hazel Art Magazine, and dead peasant, and online shows for Lodger Art and Art Saint Louis. They have won multiple awards and was also chosen in late 2020 as the Editor’s Choice: Visual Artist for dead peasant. Kalven’s work has consistently dealt with themes of identity and its performative elements, but as of late, their studio practice has been focused on deconstructing their expansive personal visual vocabulary as an attempt to further learn the extent to which their queer identity informs their experience.