Kalani Engles’ new paintings, large oils on canvas, are offered to the viewer as “the essence of a wild garden unencumbered by physical context… the primordial force of plants competing for space and sunlight without regard for biological order or human design.”
“In my abstracted images I reveal my respect and admiration of early American modernism while creating a very personal aesthetic that draws upon my life experience. With my ethnic roots in Hawaii and San Francisco upbringing, my vision encompasses a broad world – a fusion of cultures, a balance of forces, where the challenges of life inspire a creative flow rich in content and imagery. The natural landscape and its flora have served as my models throughout my career.
"The abstraction in this painting results from the arrangement of the figures on the canvas. Obviously, no real garden is configured like this one. Instead, I want the viewer to experience the essence of a wild garden unencumbered by physical context. The juxtaposition of the figurative elements is designed to convey a sense of energy and motion while maintaining technical balance in spatial composition and color. The name Savage Garden suggests the primordial force of plants competing for space and sunlight without regard for biological order or human design."
