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Phoenix is brimming with creativity. And every other year, we put the spotlight on 100 of the city’s creative forces. Leading up to the release of this year’s Best of Phoenix issue, we’re profiling 100 more. Welcome to the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today: 49. Kyllan Maney.
Looking for Kyllan Maney? You’ll find her at the library.
Or, you’ll find her work anyway. The artist and educator, who teaches painting and mixed media at New School for the Arts and Academics, is currently showing at “Expressively Frida” at Burton Barr Central Library.
See also: Xanthia Walker of Phoenix’s Rising Youth Theatre: 100 Creatives
And starting Friday, July 18, she’ll have work on view at GreenHaus as part of the exhibition “Generations.” In the past, she has shown at Art One and Mesa Arts Center, in addition to working on collaborative mural projects with artist Lauren Lee at Mesa Urban Garden and Mesa Public Library.
The Phoenix-based painter says that teaching and making art go hand-in-hand. “Without the practice of my work, I would not be a teacher,” Maney says. “I find working daily with student artists is extremely inspiring. They are full of ideas and creatively, they think outside the box. I see their fresh approach as a constant lesson to my work.”
And that well of inspiration has Maney perpetually plotting new projects. This summer, she’s started drawing on maps that she’ll incorporate into paintings, mixed media pieces, and murals. “I love maps,” she says, “they communicate a place and time for certain memories. I find that people are drawn to maps for the same reason.” She also has a mural proposal in the works. And with Lee, her frequent collaborator, Maney will create and install a Día de Los Muertos community altar at Mesa Arts Center in October.
Considering that Maney’s summers are full of studio time, we have a feeling she’ll have a few more projects on the docket sooner than later.
I came to Phoenix with my adopted family when I was 5 years old. My grandmother had lived in Sun City for years and we would visit her every summer. On one of these summer vacations, after a dismal Detroit winter, my father decided to sell the house and move us to the sun.
I make art because I feel empty without it. I need to work every day somehow or another to feel complete. Otherwise, I am a depressed mess. I see it as my daily meditation.
I’m most productive when it is night. I work best when everyone in the house is asleep. I really love the hours between 10 and 2.
My inspiration wall is full of butterfly and bug specimens, my favorite drawings, maps, invitational postcards to art openings, artwork by artists I love, including my daughter, Rachel Bess, Matt Dickson, Linda Parker and great art of current and previous students. Intermingled with artwork I have inspirational images of Virgin of Guadalupe, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, and colorful calveras.
I’ve learned most from the process of making art. I am grateful for all the great art instructors and mentors I had had along my path, they have taught me many things about myself and my work. All of their words of wisdom and direction are ingrained in my process, different voices resonant at different moments.
Good work should always be creative, have a strong voice, be true to the artist who created it, have a strong composition and great attention to the application and/or use of the medium.
The Phoenix creative scene could use more continual growth. I have been showing in Phoenix galleries for a while. I am amazed by the progress Phoenix has made in this time. I remember back in the day when politicians wanted to get rid of the downtown arts area and now we have a mayor who embraces it and is involved. I see the future of Phoenix to be an art mecca for artists and art lovers.
See the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives:
100. Bill Dambrova
99. Niki Blaker
98. Jeff Slim
97. Beth May
96. Doug Bell
95. Daniel Langhans
94. Nanibaa Beck
93. Nicole Royse
92. Ib Andersen
91. Casandra Hernandez
90. Chris Reed
89. Shelby Maticic
88. Olivia Timmons
87. Courtney Price
86. Travis Mills
85. Catrina Kahler
84. Angel Castro
83. Cole Reed
82. Lisa Albinger
81. Larry Madrigal
80. Julieta Felix
79. Lauren Strohacker
78. Levi Christiansen
77. Thomas Porter
76. Carrie Leigh Hobson
75. Cody Carpenter
74. Jon Jenkins
73. Aurelie Flores
72. Michelle Ponce
71. Devin Fleenor
70. Noelle Martinez
69. Bucky Miller
68. Liliana Gomez
67. Jake Friedman
66. Clarita Lulić
65. Randy Murray
64. Mo Neuharth
63. Jeremy Hamman
62. La Muñeca
61. Kevin Goldman
60. Emily Costello
59. Kerstin Dale
58. Vara Ayanna
57. Nathaniel Lewis
56. Ruben Gonzales
55. Lisa Poje
54. Bobby Zokaites
53. Frances Smith Cohen
52. Julie Rada
51. David Miller
50. Xanthia Walker
