10 Questions with Scott Kahn

Scott Kahn (b.1946 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an American painter who draws inspiration from life and considers his work to be a reflection of the world around him. Kahn is influenced by his memory and imagination, turning to familiar people and places and thus creating work of a dream-like quality.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from originally and when did art first enter your life?
I was born in Springfield, Mass. and have painted since I was a child.

Has your work always taken on the style it currently embodies?
When I was a student I was an abstract painter.

What’s a day in the studio like for you?
I work at home. After attending to business and chores I usually get to work sometime in the afternoon. One to three hours is enough. No matter how much work you do everyday, it transforms the painting and eventually the painting gets done!

What’s next for you?
Exhibitions have been proposed for 2023 and 2024.

From where do you draw inspiration?
Life!

Have you always painted in the style your work currently inhabits?
My work evolved organically and out of necessity from the abstract when I was a student, to the representational.

What source material do you base your work off of?
None. It’s best to have no gods.

Does your work reference any Art Historical movements?
Not directly. We all depend on what’s come before us. I’m not re-inventing the wheel.

What is your process like? How do you begin a work?
I begin directly on the canvas with paint. From the underpainting I gradually refine the image. My technique is “classical”: fat over lean.

At the end of every interview, we like to ask the artist to recommend a friend whose work you love for us to interview next. Who would you suggest?
Van Gogh.