Artist Reviews

“Abstract painter and environmental activist Kasey Child's “Touch Sand, Touch Snow, Turn Off Your Phone” exhibition at Front Four Gallery in Stowe uses boisterous brushwork, impressionistic compositions and loud colors to underscore the inherent chaos of climate change.  The show makes a timely plea: Put down your digital device and reconnect with the world!”

By Rebecca Driscoll
The Magnificent 7 Must See, Must Do This Week
Seven Days  November 27 - December 4, 2024

American Art Collector
April 2024 Edition
SPECIAL SECTIONS

Drawing the Line

Collector's Focus: Modern Art

Introduction by Sarah Gianelli

What constitutes modern art is a subjective determination.  Perhaps less so is what falls into the category of abstract art, but even that, like all art I would propose, is a matter of personal opinion.  One individual might look at a Jackson Pollock and see clouds and faces and other forms in his poured paintings, while others might see nothing more than a random splattering of paint.
With that in mind, and for the sake of this special section, our definition of modern art lies on a spectrum that ranges from the blurry edges of the representational to the more clearly abstract–works that lie outside the bounds of this magazine’s focus on contemporary realism.  Here, through the works of top artists in the genre and their galleries, we give you a sampling of the varied forms modern art can take, and explore the creative freedom artists find along a mark-making continuum that many find liberating, but most also adhere to the fundamental principles of composition.
Even in Kasey Child’s painting Rebar, structural forms emerge from the dense abstract.  “In my perspective, there are always elements of realism present in the work I create,” says Child.  I don’t think of my work as purely abstract but abstractions of scenes, ideas or emotions.  I’ve come to realize that the transition from realism to abstraction is subjective and viewer-dependent.  What may seem obvious to me may appear entirely abstract to someone else.  I now understand that people may have vastly different interpretations of my work, and that’s perfectly acceptable.”  Painted while purchasing a home during a challenging housing market, Rebar reflects Child’s fascination with architecture and the intersection of nature and civilization.  “Looking at it now, I know that I painted an aerial view of a landscape with a city emerging along the water, but I can also see a cartoonish shape of an alligator emerging from water.  So, if a visitor to the gallery finds enjoyment in viewing the piece and perceives a crocodile, or something completely different than my intentions, I think that’s great.”
By Sarah Gianelli
Collector’s Focus Modern Art
Drawing the Line
American Art Collector April 2024 (page 68-73)
Issue 222
Magnificent 7 Must, Must Do This Week
#7
Paints and Prints

Through November, ART, Etc. in Northfield presents a joint exhibition of works by Kasey Child and Kenneth Goss, an abstract acrylics painter and landscape photographer, respectively.  Child’s colorful, chaotic paintings lie somewhere between Jackson Pollock’s drip technique and Henri Matisse’s fauvist period, while Goss’ photos provide a tender, naturalistic counterpoint.
By Emily Hamilton
The Magnificent 7 Must See, Must Do This Week
Seven Days  November 17-24, 2024 
Page 11

Arts

Goss, Child Show Works At ART, etc. 

ART, etc. presents its November exhibit featuring abstract paintings of Kasey Child and original photography by Kenneth Goss of Randolph. This exhibit captures natural photographic scenes of the Vermont countryside and textural, chaotic landscapes in acrylic. Both exhibits will be on view for the month of November. 
Child creates abstracted, frenzied landscapes in acrylic and oil, primarily painting with a palette knife, showing the uncertainty of change and the extremes of weather, with fire, polluted water, flooding and the clouds of a storm. Child is creatively impulsive, often going through intense phases of experimenting with a new subject or style. 
After enlisting in the Marine Corps, Goss attended the Photo School in Florida for Aerial Reconnaissance and Photo Interpretation and later the advanced 70mm photo school at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville. After the military, he was a freelance photographer, worked in a commercial studio, taught and mentored in photography, worked with an engineering business and began his own aerial photography and topographic mapping company. 
Now that Goss has retired, he can pursue photography as an art form. His photographs express what he feels in his heart or in the spirit of the subject, captured on film, and printed in a way to give the viewer the same feeling. 
On Friday Nov. 5 from 5-7 p.m., there will be an opening reception welcoming these artists to Northfield. ART, etc. is an artisan craft store with two dedicated gallery spaces, located in Depot Square in Northfield. For more information, visit www. artetcvt.com. Open hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Arts
The Herald November 4, 2021

Art
Kasey Child 

The Silo is a new exhibition space within Lezot Camera and Vermont Frame Game on Burlington’s Main Street. Aptly, “Plastic River” is artist Kasey Child’s debut solo show. Active abstractions with a decided street art influence, his paintings are focused on the climate crisis and take as their subjects such disasters as floods, drought, hurricanes and forest fires. Although Child’s vivid mark making doesn’t literally depict these realities, his expression of chaos and the frustration of human inaction comes through eloquently. Through February 29. Pictured: “Alluvion.”
By Pamela Polston
Art
Seven Days February 19-26, 2020
Page 70
Art
Kasey Child 

This weekend, South Burlington’s Vermont Frame Game opens another location in Stowe — on Pond Street right next door to the Current (formerly Helen Day Art Center) and the town library. In the framing shop, owner Courtney Mercier says she plans to exhibit contemporary local artists on a rotating basis. First up: Kasey Child. The Burlington painter’s abstractions might not immediately yield their import, but she considers the wildly energetic compositions on canvas, paper or panel to be commentaries on the climate crisis. If not discernible Vermont landscapes, paintings such as “Trip to the Trailhead,” shown here, make a persuasive vision of chaos. The Vermont Frame Game and Child welcome visitors to an open house on Saturday, July 24, 3 to 6 p.m., in conjunction with the Current’s opening reception for annual outdoor sculpture show “Exposed.” Child’s paintings will be on view through 
August 31

By Pamela Polston
Art
Seven Days July 21-28, 2021
Page 52

The cleverly titled documentary, Rembrandt Lives in New Jersey, by Kasey Child, presents the artwork and life of an 80+ year-old New Jersey native “etcher” and printmaker, Helen Frank, while paying tribute to 17th century Dutch printmaker, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.
By Lauren Bromberg
New Jersey Stage February 8, 2023
Curatorial Statement:

Kasey Child's solo exhibition, Touch Sand, Touch Snow, Turn Off Your Phone, is a powerful call to action to reconnect with the world around us. In a time when digital distractions often overshadow the subtleties of our environment, Child's work serves as a vital reminder of nature's dynamic power and fragility as it is impacted by climate change. Each canvas hums with energy – blurring the line between land and sky, capturing the shifting elements of our world.

Child's exploration of the chaos and vibrancy of the natural world is uniquely expressed through his abstract impressionist style. His compositions, crafted with palette knives and a mix of media, are reflections of the scenery around us. In these works, the symbolism dissolves into the abstract, mirroring the landscapes he aims to capture. The core of this exhibition is a critique of our increasing disconnection from the world around us and a request to look beyond our screens and rediscover the beauty and delicacy of the world we inhabit. Child's work emphasizes the risks of constant digital immersion, reminding us of the consequences of ignoring the gradual effects of global warming. His brushstrokes are a visual echo of the natural forces that shape our planet – forces we may miss as we scroll through our screens.

Touch Sand, Touch Snow, Turn Off Your Phone invites viewers to step away from their devices and immerse themselves in the natural rhythms that Child captures. His paintings speak to the urgency of our times, asking us to take responsibility, reconnect with the earth that sustains us, and reflect on our uncertain future.

by Emily Ward
Front Four Gallery 
October 2024