Excerpt from Vernissage TV page:
"During our visit to the Simchowitz Hill House in Pasadena, we had the opportunity to speak with artist Ken Taylor Reynaga about his work. Ken Taylor Reynaga’s art captures the intimate yet complex experiences of everyday life, particularly within immigrant and working-class communities. Born in Southern California and raised in Bakersfield, Reynaga’s background in the agricultural Central Valley deeply informs his work. He explores themes of cultural identity, masculinity, and class through scenes that may seem ordinary—like family meals, backyard parties, or soccer games—but reveal deeper social narratives. His paintings, often created on unconventional surfaces like tablecloths or bed sheets, blend figuration with abstraction, highlighting small yet significant details, such as a cowboy hat beside a floral table arrangement. Reynaga’s works offer a fresh perspective on Chicanx and Latinx art, defying conventional categorization.
This video is the fourth in our series about Hill House. See also the video about the opening of Los Angeles-based artist Shaina McCoy’s exhibition at Hill House, the interview with Stefan Simchowitz, and the Hill House Tour with Stefan Simchowitz.
Interview with Ken Taylor Reynaga / Simchowitz Hill House, Pasadena. October 20, 2024.
— Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.
During our visit to the Simchowitz Hill House in Pasadena, we had the opportunity to speak with artist Ken Taylor Reynaga about his work. Ken Taylor Reynaga’s art captures the intimate yet complex experiences of everyday life, particularly within immigrant and working-class communities. Born in Southern California and raised in Bakersfield, Reynaga’s background in the agricultural Central Valley deeply informs his work. He explores themes of cultural identity, masculinity, and class through scenes that may seem ordinary—like family meals, backyard parties, or soccer games—but reveal deeper social narratives. His paintings, often created on unconventional surfaces like tablecloths or bed sheets, blend figuration with abstraction, highlighting small yet significant details, such as a cowboy hat beside a floral table arrangement. Reynaga’s works offer a fresh perspective on Chicanx and Latinx art, defying conventional categorization.
This video is the fourth in our series about Hill House. See also the video about the opening of Los Angeles-based artist Shaina McCoy’s exhibition at Hill House, the interview with Stefan Simchowitz, and the Hill House Tour with Stefan Simchowitz.
Interview with Ken Taylor Reynaga / Simchowitz Hill House, Pasadena. October 20, 2024.
Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file."
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Un-edited digital transcript of interview:
K. Taylor Reynaga: I'm Ken Taylor Reynaga and this is Ida, my daughter, and I'm a painter out in Chino, CA.
H. Schmidt: And you have a barn here at Stefan's Hill House.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah.
H. Schmidt: How did it come about?
K. Taylor Reynaga: I think, you know, after Stefan, you know, saw this property and this opportunity and then he made these barns and this kind of designated one to just showing my work kind of permanently. So I think that's, you know, Stefan's always trying to reinvent the way we're buying or looking or seeing art. So I think that's his way of like maybe not preparing for a show every year and just making work and then showing it like fluid.
H. Schmidt: How did you meet him?
K. Taylor Reynaga: I met Stefan through a friend. Actually, I was dropping off some sculptures. My friend, I had a minivan and my friend needed help dropping off some sculptures. So I just helped him. And then he asked me if I was an artist. And then, yeah, from there we started just talking. I showed him work and then we probably started working together a year after we met.
H. Schmidt: And what they are showing at the moment at the Hill House.
K. Taylor Reynaga: You know, I still haven't seen it, so it's going to be a surprise for me, but I'm pretty sure paintings. Yeah, I'm just going to be showing you some paintings. You know, I, I kind of like, feel like when you're working with someone, it's a collaboration. And I kind of step out of the curatorial aspect of it. And I just let Stefan and his team show how they like, how they see it, the work, you know, eventually, you know, I think like the work will just kind of all narrate itself in the end.
H. Schmidt: And you have your studio here in Los Angeles.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah, in Chino, CA. So it's like 30 minutes outside of LA.
H. Schmidt: So how does it work? You work in your studio and Stefan selects works from time to time or.
K. Taylor Reynaga: You know it, it works pretty organically. We work together in a sense where, you know, I'm, I'm making work. And then, yeah, he's just selecting, you know what, what he wants to show.
H. Schmidt: Tell me a little bit about your work. What is the main? What are your main topics or how you are you working? What gets you inspired?
K. Taylor Reynaga: To me, I feel like like, well, obviously like art imitates life and life imitates art. So I'm always trying to like live this life that I feel like has inspiration and stuff. And so I draw from real life. So my practice is really like me studying the real life and painting and like making drawings and stuff like that. And then when I go to the studio, I try to take all that experience that I have in the world and come up with, not even come up with actually like I just have a dialogue with this painting like this square.
So then I see what the thing's telling me and then I paint on it and then I see what that's telling and then I see what I'm saying. And then we kind of just work until we have this kind of like formal, you know, something that's formally kind of like where I can agree with, like, OK, the, the color's good. The, the, the concept, I mean, the, the composition and then the, the like, what my paintings end up becoming. It's like basically, you know, my life. So like Southern California, you know, Mexican American imagery, colors, tradition. And I try to like let like performance kind of influence my my paintings, you know, turn the music up, like set the vibes at this like spiritual way of just kind of like art for me is my religion. So it's like my way of like, you know, accepting the world, talking about the world, healing from my past and all my shit that I have.
K. Taylor Reynaga: So that way I can pass on some good vibes and not like, you know, just bring fucking destruction to the world, which there's enough of that probably. I would like to say like my art is like on the on the side of love, you know, which is not like popular. Normally it's like more popular to destroy it or something.
H. Schmidt: What was the topic that you recently covered? Something in theme, what did you think about and then translated into a painting.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Well, I like to think about like the landscape and like the Wild West. So it's like people like to think like, oh, California and like, you know, they don't really understand that California was already, there were people living here already, natives. And then, you know, after the sombrero came and the handgun, we had more people started moving W because they could fight, you know, natives with arrows. So then it becomes like this place that's become incorporated and and become like a city based off of just people kind of coming here.
But it hasn't. It's not like the East Coast, like east of the Rockies is like like more people from Europe and and that type of like culture. And out here, it's like all those cultures met, but there's too much space. And it's, it's still kind of like the Wild West, you know? Like people walk around, you know, people walk around with guns everywhere. But like out here, it's like, you know, I have, you know, friends in middle school walking to school with the gun, you know, because you protect yourself. And it's like that's that mentality that I feel like kind of shows up in the work. And I use motifs like the cowboy hat to kind of represent these feelings of it. Not really like direct imagery, you know?
H. Schmidt: Did you have could you describe you know where your way of putting it on the canvas comes from? Have you been to the to the university to study artistry or?
K. Taylor Reynaga: So I went to Cal State Bakersfield. Yeah. And there I learned about like painting from Joey Kötting and, and Sarah Vanderlip, who worked for Kiki Smith and Chris Burden. And so it was actually kind of like this conceptual idea of painting. Like the first idea was like, how can you make a painting without painting? And I kind of grew up selling in the swap meets. So me and my family, we've traveled down to Tijuana and then buy stuff in Mexico and then come back and sell it out here.
So there's a lot of artisanal kind of things. So that I use the kind of like these two things in my my practice, like where it's like this artisanal version of like, hey, you need a painting. Like I'll make you a painting versus like, hey, can you make a painting without painting?
And like this like idea of conceptual art, you know, what was taught to me in like a university? And then like my experience of seeing like, wow, like this person is just painting everyday because that's what they have to do to make a living.
So I think like I have this kind of play about like, how can I make this like traditional artisanal painting, like have the depth of like some sort of concept or theory of painting, you know, and I used, I normally try to just, you know, it's about layers to me.
It's like the, the more dynamic you can make a painting and like figure out like a painting's like a puzzle to me. So I'm like building a puzzle and it's like, how complex can that puzzle be? Like sometimes a simple puzzle's really nice and easy, but typically it, you know, I'm trying to build puzzles that that do, you know, you have to, it's like listening to some experimental jazz. You got to kind of like adjust your taste to it, you know, and like, let it sink in and.
H. Schmidt: How do you know painting Painting is finishing or when the puzzle is is done, you know?
K. Taylor Reynaga: I don't think it ever is done. I think a lot of artists talk about this, but it's never done. It's just, you know, it's just left alone. Yeah, but, but you can feel it, right? Do you feel it? Like when you see something, you know, like that's done, but it's not done.
It's just like that's I'm, I want that how it is. It's like a person like you fall in love, you're like, are you done? Like, no, you're not done. But I like you the way you are right now. So that's like even almost more kind of like perfect, right?
It's like you accept the imperfections 'cause I mean, I'm a painting. It's like, what do you like? I'm not going for this perfect thing because it's kind of like, I think it's insane to go for something perfect, you know? It's like it's not.
H. Schmidt: Yeah, sometimes perfection is not perfect.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah, there's no so I kind of like that loose kind of, you know, in the moment, like back to what I was saying with my painting, it's like I try to gather experience through practice. So like, I'll draw a tree, I'll draw an avocado tree. So I, I've been making a series on avocados, avocado trees, and what I do is I look, there's an avocado tree where I live and I just look at it And then when I go to the studio, I try to paint it from that experience.
Then that's what I mean by experience. Not like, because I wouldn't say memory, because I'm not trying to play like memory, you know, or have memories. I'm just like, no, I've seen this tree before. Like I'm going to try my best to like show you what I've seen, you know, and then at the same time, like make it alive. Like you got to make a painting like alive, you know, and it's funny. It's like actually everything I've ever done in my life kind of like means the painting, you know, it's like the way I've like the way I've I've like stucco things like this, you know, lay tile.
It's like these movements. It's not, it's like for a purpose, but it's also like, like that's what painting is like. So I'm just blocking in this color because it has a good shape and it's like, what? What color goes good with this color? Well, let's, let's, let's do some tests. Let's science it up. And then like, you know, you don't know and then you just throw something on there and then that turns into something else.
And then you know, the palette. I have a palette that I've been using now for like 6 years. And the palette I just mean like the piece of wood. And then I made mix everything on this piece of wood like this big. And that's everything I do right is right there. And I feel like that's the seasoning for my paintings, you know, where it's like I just seasoned it all on that palette and then with the music and just kind of not judge myself. Yeah, don't judge yourself.
H. Schmidt: How do you you already mentioned how you work with Stefan. Yeah, quite unconventional, yeah. So did you have any doubts of working with him?
K. Taylor Reynaga: Mean doubt is a funny thing, you know, I don't think I had doubts working with him because it's to me, there's no like there. There's nothing bad that can happen for making art. I had a friend in Mexico City tell me that, you know, when you live your life with art, you don't have to be afraid of anything because, like, the same spirit will take care of you, you know, So it's like if, if I'm here to make art, nothing bad can happen to me.
So I don't have any doubts. I think Stefan is, you know, someone who can be controversial, but I think that's only because he shows more of himself than I think other people are are willing to do. And I feel like that's probably his best marketing tool. And, and it's not even like a thought out process, you know, it's just like, I think he's like that, you know, he's willing to share his opinion and listen to others. And I feel like that's something that he's always done to me is listen to my side of how I view things. And, you know, I think that's like coming from 2 very different backgrounds. I feel like that's kind of what maybe the world needs a little more of, is like, maybe you should talk to someone who's not like you a little more, you know?
H. Schmidt: I mean, what we really like is Hill House because it's not a typical gallery space and you feel like it's, you feel really at home there. And we also discussed this, you know, it's not necessary that you have white walls and a clean room to enjoy art as it is. Yeah. Practiced usually.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah, I mean.
H. Schmidt: And yeah, you see it at the at the opening now. People are relaxed, they like to sit and yeah, listen to some music and have a look at the at the paintings.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah, I feel like it's, I think it's really cool actually. Like I go to openings now, have a kid. It's like if I go to an opening and now that's with me, it's like if we're she's not having it, you know, there's nowhere for her to go sit.
Like it's just these white walls, people talking and like you said, you know, the art. So for me, it's really, it's really a a breather to kind of have this environment so I can bring my daughter and it's like, all right, cool. It's like, you know, we can find a little corner to kind of hang out and catch a break.
H. Schmidt: And you don't feel absorbed by someone and you know, you don't have to take care of how you look, how you behave and stuff like that.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Or if you're standing by yourself, no one's talking to you, and it's like, oh, what do I do now? It's like here, you can just go look at a tree.
H. Schmidt: Yeah, there you go. Just simply listen to music, Yeah.
K. Taylor Reynaga: Yeah, And you have something to do. I think that's that's actually kind of interesting. It's like how we interact with art where it's like when you try to force that like and make it into like I see people looking at a painting this clothes like what are.
H. Schmidt: You looking for?
K. Taylor Reynaga: Like you're looking for the gold in there or what? And it's like, no, But when you're listening to music and then you're like, wait a minute. Like I think I just saw something in that painting that I haven't wasn't expecting.
Like let me like, wow. Like you're going to remember that, you know?