At the intersection of abstract qualities of material exploration and the unabashedly narrative, Kim L Pace works with materials like watercolour, clay and glazes which enable spontaneity, chance and uncertainty in the creation of her colourful characters. Her works seem imbued with ‘soul’ – in Spotlight (2020)1, the ‘actors’ emerge into focus, poised as if they might suddenly spark into life. They reflect an interior world, as well as the mysterious, uncanny and the talismanic, and these qualities reflect her aim to express something timeless and ‘essential’ about each character. Drawing inspiration from ethnological objects that have been used in rituals and customs - such as Halloween, for example, in Pumpkin Totem (2020), she also taps into imagery from our collective unconscious, particularly representations of the supernatural that provide the means of transcendence in our material and secular culture.
Pace’s work alludes to aspects of psychoanalysis and contains art historical references from 19th century Gothic Romanticism to Weimar artists, and from Dada and Surrealism to misfit artistic subcultures and alternative figures in Modern Art.

Multi-media artist Kim L Pace creates sculptures, installations, drawings in series and animated films, and has shown her unique and affecting works internationally from the start of her art career.
Additionally, she has had a long-standing interest in the language of comics as an extraordinarily powerful form of expression, which she explored in ‘Cult Fiction’ curated for Hayward Gallery Touring, London and her first graphic novel is to be published in 2021. She has lectured extensively – currently, at the University of the Arts, London. Pace’s work has been presented in numerous solo and group shows – in 2020, alongside Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning in ’31 Women Artists’ at Sedona Arts Center, Arizona. She has received around 30 awards for her work, including four artist fellowships and most recently, an Arts Council of England award, 2020.

Note
1 ‘Spotlight’ is also the name for the annual casting compendium for actors.