Biography
I am Kaci King-Hoppman. Self-taught abstract artist, currently living in Tyler. As a preachers daughter born in Vernon and raised In Plainview Texas, I consider the great high plains as my natural home. We moved to Tyler from Abilene in June 2019 so my husband and I could be closer to his ailing mother. I began painting in 2007. At the time we had no space in our first home, an early 1910s, small, two story cottage. So my husband made me a space and I began learning. My focus really took off in 2017 when personal life events changed my perspective and I began to focus my art to help me deal with my mental and physical health and, well, life in general.
I am an introvert. But I love people and a crowd. I find painting is therapy for me. It allows me to freely express my emotions. I can’t always verbalize what I’m thinking. But through painting, I can.
The best way I have found to describe my craft is a quote by D.W. Winnicott:
“Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.”
Artist's Statement
Painting is my Zen
I’m not big on sharing my feelings, but with painting, it is me opening up my diary to the world. I’m as abstract as my work
Artist Interview
Artist Interview: Kaci King-Hoppman
What are your earliest memories related to art?
Doodling. I doodle. It started as notes while on the phone…then I trail off with a few squilly swirly lines. I doodle when I watch people cook. I doodle when I have hard conversations, when having fun conversations, when problem solving, when I don’t want to cry, if I’m on the phone with you…good chance I’m doodling. I’ve been known to doodle on paper, styrofoam, grocery bags, magazine, bibles, books…a little of everything. Been doing it since I was a kid.
How and when did you start becoming an artist yourself?
I began painting in 2007 when I looked at my husband and said “I think I want to try to start painting” At the time we had no space in our first home, an early 1910s, small, two story cottage. So my husband surprised me one night after work with a space he had created for me to start.
What was the evolution like toward finding your current voice and visual vocabulary?
Before 2015 I considered myself more of an amateur or hobby artist, After 2017 my perspective changed when life events happened and I began to focus on my art as a way to heal mentally and physically and, well, to deal with life in general.
What is your process like?
It’s pretty different every time.
Is there anything from your artist statement that you wish to expound on, that you normally don’t have the chance to discuss?
Once I’m done with a piece it’s pretty much out of my head so when I’m asked “what is it?” Or “what were you feeling” it really is hard to answer because it’s usually gone. But what I love about my work is the abstract and hearing what others see or feel.
What do you try to control in your surfaces, and what do you leave to chance?
I leave it to chance.
Where do you see your work going from here?
Being near and helping care for my Mother in Law has inspired me to start a painting series I call ‘Tuesday’s with Ellen.’ On Tuesday’s (or what ever day allows) we try to spend the day with her; she loves to sit on her porch in the sun, chat, and insists I paint while we do this. My goal for this is to create a book with notes from those days that coincide with the painting.
