Pam Kainz works with a torch on acrylic painted panels as her medium. My first internal question: Is there any separation from the artist to the work itself? Fire is a dangerous medium, intangible and unpredictable. It has ideas of its own, independent of the entity manipulating it.
For Kainz, the act of not knowing and not controlling is the allure. She approaches the medium with reverence, allowing patterns to emerge quickly and abandoning some of the perfectionism to which she is prone. She realizes that the process and resulting layers of the fire’s essence has its own material knowledge; it flows through her hands, a careful minuet between artist and the subtle surface.
Kainz’s background presents a duality between physical exertion and intense focused concentration. Growing up on a farm in Wisconsin, working with her hands came naturally. She also became familiar with the nature of materials and the mindfulness of working safely, quickly and with competence.