Daniel Kaminski: Streams of Subconscious
This February, upon entering New Haven’s Koffee on Audubon, quite a few patrons have postponed quenching their caffeine craving to get a closer look at the drawing on the other side of the milk bar. Like much of Daniel Kaminski’s work, Flesh Sensation exists on both macro and micro levels. However, this piece calls out more vigorously than the rest. Flesh Sensation does not simply request our attention, but demands it.
From afar, the viewer makes out a mass of circular shapes that appear to expand and contract. Closer inspection reveals eyes peeking out from intricate swirls reminiscent of muscle tissue. These shapes appear like a pulsating cellular being floating in a sea of computer chips or wire grids. Faces begin to emerge, bending and turning upon one another. Daniel would later explain to me that he prefers his audience not think too much about what his drawings ‘mean’: “I want to provoke sensation in the individual. It’s not about seeing my work, it’s about feeling it.” True to his intention, Flesh Sensation pulls the viewer in and one almost feels the expansion and contraction in the pit of her stomach. Perhaps though, the mind’s interpretations serve only to deepen the bodily reactions the artist so hopes to inspire.
Daniel Kaminski’s solo exhibition, Streams of Subconscious, is a series of pen and ink drawings that explore the mind’s inner thoughts. Daniel explains his process as “my own meditation, my own contemplation.” Daniel says his “body takes over physically” when drawing, and his “mind is almost totally disengaged, like a trance.” One can draw parallels to stream of conscious writing as the cognizant mind takes a backseat to access otherwise unknown thoughts. Daniel said with a smile, “It’s a fascinating thing to start drawing without intention – it’s mysterious!”
Daniel states that drawing has always been part of his life, but points to recent experiences as critically influential to his artistic development. Kaminski spent the summer at Tasha Hill, a Provincetown artist community. Daniel remembers interactions with fellow artists as both inspirational and educational, mentioning his author roommate as particularly encouraging. Kaminski points to his reading during this time as influential as well noting authors such as Joseph Campbell, Henry Miller and psychiatrist Carl Jung. Daniel also visited many Provincetown galleries and began to think about how each work of art made him feel:
“It is not good enough to be technically proficient. It’s like in singing. Some people are technically great, but it doesn’t move you, there’s no power of expression. When the individual is poured into it, the piece of art radiates and has a greater effect.”
Even in some of his more abstract works, one feels the individual radiating through.
For instance, in Self Portrait, Daniel posits a uniquely abstract sense of self. Repeating and interlocking petal fans, varying in size, but similar in shape, fill the page. The pattern of shape and line repeats in black and white, continuing into four small squares of color toward the bottom. When considering the title, the piece comes to resemble a two dimensional layout of the brain; the conservative bursts of color could then represent the few parts in use: our conscious thoughts. From afar, the red and orange stand out, while the blue and green are near invisible. Up close, all four squares sink back, giving way to the more dominant bold black lines. With this subtle difference, perhaps Kaminski is leading us to understand the necessity to look more closely, more deeply, in order to discover the power and beauty of the subconscious mind.
Daniel Kaminski is an explorer concerned more with what lies below than what floats on the surface. Through his work, he hopes to inspire a kind of automatic reaction, a physical sensation. In this way, Kaminski seems to struggle to reach his audience’s subconscious through an expression of his own, to provoke feelings we ourselves are unaware exist. Whether or not we feel our subconscious rise to the surface, one thing is for sure: Daniel Kaminski’s drawings move his audience to think on a deeper level, one that for most might well be hidden below the conscious plane.
Daniel Kaminski’s work may be viewed at Koffee? on Audubon in New Haven, Connecticut for the rest of February 2010.
104 Audubon Street
New Haven, CT
06511
4 Responses to “Daniel Kaminski: Streams of Subconscious”
aww he use to be our lil racecar driver,now look at him
Great article and magnificent pieces! I wish I were in New Haven to stop in and explore. Well done, Daniel!
Daniel’s art and voice are truely inspirational. I bought one of his drawings that reminded me of my quilting. I will proudly hang it in my living room.
Hi Daniel, Congratulations on your exibit. You are intense.I rember your Grandmother in a good way, she was my family’s friend and my personal friend… and I know she’s proud of you.
God bless, Carole Lee Penna Valente( the mother of your school mate Monica, and best friend to your aunt Arline)…