insideKENT Magazine Issue 48 - March 2016 | Page 23

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

Kent Artist Profile:

MAX KIMBER
Max Kimber’s work is daring and different – a social and political mix of life,
death, war, and peace, it prods and pokes at the psyche until you take notice of
it. And once you do, you just can’t look away. insideKENT’s Lisamarie Lamb spoke
to Max to find out more…

How would you describe your art, and what
inspires you?
For many years, nature and animals have been
prominent in my work. It started when I lived in
the country and was surrounded by both
domestic animals and wildlife – most of these
animals were living of course, but it seemed that
an awful lot had lost their lives too. Dead sheep
in the farmer’s field, dead foxes on the road and
rabbits and rats were brought into the house on
an almost daily basis. I had bantams and peafowl
too, so I was pretty much living alongside nature
every day.
I need to make things so that I can show how I
feel inside. With animals, it was about making
memento mori to their passing. Otherwise, who
would remember the skinny little bird, the big fox
at the side of the road or the rabbit who had
hopped too close to a car? With my recent
sculptures, it has been about how war zones
around the world affect children particularly.
Do you have a favourite piece?
My favourite piece changes from week to week!
But “The Foundling” (a photograph of the fox
and rabbit, nestled together) is still a favourite.
It went viral on the internet and had almost two

million hits, which was exciting. I hadn’t even
realised until I saw that 30,000 people had looked
at my website over a couple of days!
What is the most interesting and/or difficult
commission you’ve been asked to do?
The most difficult show was A Handful of Dust,
which was about children caught in conflict and
was on at the Pie Factory, Margate recently. I
found the whole concept very upsetting and the
work I made reflected this. “You Were Too Late”,
a rust encrusted doll in a grimy vitrine seemed
to sum up how I felt and “Only One Left”, a
seemingly abandoned, rust covered child’s shoe
was a direct response from a photograph taken
by someone in Gaza.
Tells us about the awards you’ve won.
My film Cusp did very well in 2012, winning the
Grand Jury Prize at Exposures Film Festival and
Best Experiment Film at the National Student
Film Festival. That was all a complete surprise
for me as my film was very short and low on
technical skills. However, the concept seemed
to be so different to other films that it grabbed
people’s attention. It’s the best feeling in the
world to win something that you weren’t
expecting.

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Where can we see your work?
I was involved in seven exhibitions last year, so
I’m taking it a bit easier this year! I’m involved in
a women’s group called Pandora’s Other Box,
and will be exhibiting with them at the
Horsebridge, Whitstable at the end of August
plus I am involved in a big Stuphist show with
Bob Lamoon and Jill Holder in 2017.
What does the future hold?
Nothing is concrete yet, but I am hoping to go
to Lesbos, Greece this year with Tracie Peisley
to develop links with village schools for the children
there. By drawing on Tracie’s background as an
art therapist, we hope to facilitate art workshops
there for local children. For me, this is a direct
result of the A Handful of Dust show in Margate
and it’s driving a need to respond in some way
to the humanitarian crisis that is ongoing there.
However, I will still be making work involving
domestic and native wildlife, that’s an ingrained
part of my creative practice, and will always be
a part of me.
www.maxkimber.com