The inspiration and destination behind painter Kym Day’s whimsical spurs and sunsets
“I hear it all the time: ‘I don’t know why I love this, but I do,'” explains artist Kym Day, as she quotes viewers entranced by her whimsical oil paintings. “At first it sounds like [the viewer] is implying they think they shouldn’t like the painting, but I take it as a compliment now—it means the work connected with them instantly.”
Originally hailing from Texas, the Greenville-based artist has quickly rocketed from talented young teacher and “Emerging Festival Artist” at Artisphere to a sought-after name gracing high-end galleries and charming collectors across the state. Her whimsical portfolio of “Western narrative figure-scapes” famously stops festival-goers in their tracks as swiftly as a cowboy’s reins halt his horse. “I love seeing people do a double take—literally take a few steps back to look—because they see something unexpected,” says Day.
Day hasn’t always known she wanted to paint fantastical equine scenes—although paint has always been in her blood. “My mom is an artist, and I got my hands on those materials really early,” she reflects. “At first, I didn’t know what to paint, so I dabbled in sculpture,” says Day, who attended the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore for her undergrad before migrating back home to Clemson for her graduate degree.
“When I came back to Greenville, I ended up making insulation foam sculpture—totally different from what I’m doing now, but it helped make apparent my interest in painting and sculpting the human figure and animals.” Birthday candles soon followed: “Some of the themes that emerged in my work are based on my childhood in Texas, and having moved away from the state really young. I gravitated toward a very childlike, playful, and dreamy way to access my roots . . . in the way I might [paint] as if I were still the age I was when I lived in Texas,” adds Day. “I recently started collecting Breyer Model Horses. They remind me of how I used to arrange all my toys when I was little. I’d [place the horses] around a picnic or a birthday party, engaging in these human rituals. Of course, [those rituals] wouldn’t matter to animals, but as a kid, I assumed they would enjoy those kinds of things.”
In her most recent show with Art and Light Gallery, the theme extended into weddings—for good reason. “I also made three wedding cake pieces, where the wedding cake topper brings in that Western theme, with cowboys and a horse girl bride with her horse on top. I’m getting married in November, so it felt appropriate,” laughs Day. “Currently, I’m trying to build my dream studio in the backyard of the property I’m renovating, so I do plan to be in the Upstate for a while.” No matter what the future holds—there will be nuptials, at least!—“I’ll definitely be painting on my deathbed,” Day admits with a smile.
Photography by Will Crooks.
