Cab Kenningale’s Art Is a Playful Mix of Collage and Painting
Cab Kenningale is an artist I’ve wanted to speak to since the launch of Palette Talk. We’ve messaged each other on Instagram a bunch, mostly about music (Cab has great taste) and about his cute cats and dog, but I never had the chance to ask him about his wonderful work.
We both share a love of collage, and we’ve both dabbled in that realm without being pigeonholed as simply “collage artists”. Cab’s own work is super vibrant. You can tell he has fun in his studio, surrounding himself with household paint and half-broken spray cans. He sometimes dips sticks in paint and drags them across his surfaces, always seeking interesting marks.
He’s a painter who revels in non-traditional tools from hardware stores, never afraid to experiment or embrace “mistakes”. The result is a rich surface where printed images occasionally pops out of the surface. There’s layers, there’s depth, there’s chance, there’s composition.
I reached out to Cab - who’s currently based in Ipswich, UK - and I wanted to start by asking about his rich use of mixed media.
Hey Cab. It’s interesting to see the collage elements in your work, but also a lot of paint and other media. What appeals to you about mixed media?
I’m always doing work on my house so I end up having loads of different household paints laying around from projects. These get poured into the objects I’m working on as needed. I like the romantic idea of being a painter just working on a flat plane but really I can’t do that, it’s too much pressure. I love working on smaller parts and attaching things together, whether that’s with stitching, staples, glues or screws.
I love the way you sometimes throw an image in a piece and then it slowly melts into the painting, often with flecks obscuring it. Tell me about how you find these pictures and how you like to use them.
To be honest I can’t remember, a lot of the images I use have been following me around for 20 years, stuffed into folders and stored in cupboards. Most of the time I’ll find something and it just feels like the correct shape rather than what it’s actually depicting.
It looks like you work on various surfaces, like wood and paper and canvas. Do those decisions change how you work and where it goes?
Completely. If I’m working on wood, it’s almost certainly a collaged canvas work, applied using builders PVA. With stretched canvas I’m using stitching to connect separate parts together and lately any paper work will be a collaboration with my kids using their mark-making and sticker books. I’ve always been easily distracted in my practice, moving quite a lot between ideas but I love that, it keeps it fresh and fun.
I was curious to see that you sometimes paint with a stick? Is it a matter of playing with different tools (sometimes non-traditional) to get an interesting mark?
For sure, even my fingers. I don’t use traditional art materials that much, tending to edge towards things I can buy from the hardware store. I really like cheap scrapers, usually used for wallpaper removal. Also, I’ve been hooked on what I can get from a spray paint can for awhile, I love the spontaneity, especially when the caps get all gunked up.
It looks like you have a great home studio setup. Are you outside of London somewhere, and what do you love about it?
I’m based in Ipswich, Suffolk, I love it. It’s one of the oldest towns in the country so it has tons of old buildings to explore. Plus you’re not too far from the coast.
We moved here from London around five years ago. My wife and I lived in Hackney for about ten years; I used to have a studio with Space, which was okay but I really connected with my work once I had a home studio. Ideas and the drive to make work come to me at odd times this meant I always struggled with having to travel to my studio space.
Tell me about your dog and cat, who seem to pop up in your studio sometimes.
Eddie is an Aussie Cattle dog, and is always up for adventure. The two cats are Goose (fluffy white one) and Turbo (tortoise shell) who get into everything.
A lot of my paintings are a direct result of my wanderings with the dog, looking at how shapes form in the tarmac on the pavement, people’s gardens and crap graffiti. The more I go along I realise they’re all landscapes really.
Following you on Instagram I always noticed you have impeccable music taste. What have you been listening to recently while working? And what especially gets you in that zone to make work?
Thanks, and ditto. Some albums that have been on rotation lately:
Reset in Dub - Panda Bear
One part lullaby - Folk Implosion
Reunion - Glen Campbell & Jimmy Webb
I, Jonathan - Jonathan Richman
I’m pretty easy with genres but usually I like finding someone with a big back catalogue so I can get immersed. Last year Lambchop and Alex G provided loads of new sounds. I also have a couple of playlists I've added songs to for years and when I work I put those on shuffle.
In a word, what makes a great painting?
Depth.
Follow Cab on Instagram: @cabkenningale
Things on Our Radar This Week
One of the unsung voices of abstraction, Martha Jungwirth has a big show at Guggenheim Bilbao
The great Emily Kraus has a solo show at Galleri Opdahl in Norway
The Guardian emphasizes the importance for the next government to support the arts and create a way in for those from working-class backgrounds
The Slade degree show looks good this year, we’ll be popping down for sure
We’re also excited to catch this group show, Cheer to the Echo, in Waterloo next week
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
Oliver & Kezia xx
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