Artist Background

The Path of a Fine Artist

Kue King (b. 1981) took to art as his first language. As a 6-year-old Filipino immigrant, Kue struggled between his old and new language. As he got older he found his true language in art. Creating gave him the voice he needed to be understood.

Kue’s early fascination of nature pushed him to study the world around him. At age 13, Kue presented his first collection to the renowned Douglass Anderson School of Art.

Kue found mentors in both blacksmithing and interior design. Kue’s early mentors nurture his sole dedication to his craft with opportunities in design, fabrication, and teaching him what it takes to be an exemplary artist.

At 23, as his final Jacksonville performance, Kue orchestrates a one man show of installation environments, lighting, sculpture, and dance. This show grants Kue the confidence to take a leap of faith. He relocates to Hawaii to focus on developing his artistic explorations into mastered skills.

In the quiet providence of Hilo bay, Kue found the solitude to discover and explore his potential. In Kona, he found a mentor and patron in famed architect Lucky Bennett.

Moving to San Francisco at 25, Kue takes his Hawaiian studies and develops a refined collection of fine art tree sculpture. Kue reemerges to the legendary gallery Gumps in Union Square. With the Bay as his playground, Kue and his partner Corbett taught each other to sail and live as professional artists. At 32, again seeking solace and a creative sabbatical, Kue embarks on a yearlong residence to the coast of Ecuador. Corbett cruised the Caribbean solo in a small sailboat. They eventually meet so Kue can grow and develop his new collection.

The couple sails back together from South America to Art Basel in 2012. Kue’s Ecuadorian collection emerges into the art world.

Since returning to the United States, King settled into the rejuvenating mountains of Blowing Rock in North Carolina. He travels extensively and shows in major cities all over the world.

Over his show years, Kue collects dozens of awards is discovered by major museums and galleries. He estimates that over a million people have experienced his Abstract collection thus far.

Exploration

The Source of Inspiration

The simplicity of wire and the utility of sacred intersection of line and curve inspires Kue to build his art. His travels take him to the far reaches of the earth to explore life, design, and architecture. Through his study of design, Kue seeks to build art that is easy to live with. His sculpture breaks the cycle of mundane daily chaos into a cycle of tranquility and constant inspiration.

Through his craft, Kue breathes sacredness into the fibers of his sculpture, creating work with vibration and resonance. He believes that through art humans can reach divinity.

Kue’s Reflections

Emotive construction

“Artistry and magic, the embedding of emotion by forming tangible objects is my meditative technical process. There is a moment when what I create reaches a point so true to my vision that in that very tiny little fragment of time, a feeling of perfection is achieved.

A recent personal experience: Fingers tying and twisting away over the last few bundles on a special piece I’ve been working on since winter. Looking down over my work, my eyes cloud over and I see droplets falling through metal branches. I was with nature at the moment and time stood still. I don’t know where it came from, but in that portal marked a personal evolution. Great works of art are forever embedded with gratitude.

Impressions of the Artist

Life on the road

“Travel brings beauty, inspires, exhausts, and allows me to creates magic. This is a video of my impressions, shows, and travels in 2017.. There is a moment when what I create reaches a point so true to my vision that in that very tiny little fragment of time, a feeling of perfection is achieved.

When I place work in gorgeous homes, they are transformed into symbolic representation of the collectors lives. My work has its own destiny. I have been gifted years of self-exploration and time to create art for arts sake. Now, I feel that the work is the process, and then it’s free to live its own story. I am simply a vessel, dancing with muses to create pieces that honor such times as the crossing over of a loved-one, beating a deadly illness, a marriage, or a new child. Often the work holds such intentions. I am honored to grow into the long-standing tradition of the sacredness in art. And these experiences make it all worth it.”