four Rising stars share
a passion for creating
memorable works of art

“I love the endless possibilities of combining various media. It allows me to continually push and explore my creative impulses.” —Amy Kyle

AMY KYLE
Mixed-media artist
In a career marked by creative experimentation and growth, the big constant in mixed-media artist Amy Kyle’s work is texture. People generally want to touch it, feel it.

“Whatever the subject, I love to combine texture, form and color,” says Kyle, whose experimental na-
ture bloomed while earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art education from the University of Arizona. She did not become a teacher, however. She became a working artist.

Looking back, the Westport, Connecticut, native says, “I dabbled in a lot of things. I started out as a weaver.” As her ideas became more sculptural, she expanded her textural palette with clay and glass. Her versatility has won praise from collectors such as Chas and Jill Williams, who say they “marvel at all the materials and iridescent textures.”

Kyle has mastered the art of unifying disparate materials: raku and high-fired clay, cast glass, woven fiber, oxides, glazes and stains. As for the process, her work grows out of itself.

“Developing an idea is an organic process,” Kyle remarks. “I don’t sit down and draw a picture of the end product. I make decisions as I go. If it stops growing, I set it aside for a while until new inspiration emerges. My work is always evolving and changing.”

When the Oro Valley Arts Council commissioned Kyle to design a public art project in 2006, she used clay, stones and glass to create Cairns, two 9-foot-tall structures on La Canada Drive north of Tangerine Road.

Cairns, man-made stacks of stones that mark trails, “guide and remind us of those who came before,” says the artist. “But they are impermanent markers, not true guides. I see cairns as metaphorical reminders to ultimately turn to ourselves for guidance.”

Client Gerri Paier has one of Kyle’s cairns in her garden. “When the full moon shines, the whole sculpture looks like it’s lit from within,” she says.

The artist’s work currently shows at Van Gogh’s Ear Gallery in Prescott.