Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, Kalin Devone is a multidisciplinary artist who focuses on the ideas of societal influence and social culture. She is known for her use of realism to reflect popular themes from her culture and childhood in the 90’s and early 2000’s. She studied at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she received a BFA with a concentration in painting in 2015 and now currently teaches Panting 1 and Mixed Media. Her work displays a technique of using layered short brush strokes to add a sense of movement to her work. Kalin’s work focuses on portraiture, she also creates abstract pieces that combine the themes of fluidity and flux of space. Kalin curated her first solo exhibition in 2019: (Perpetual). Her most recent exhibitions include ‘The Renaissance of Brooklyn’; The Brooklyn Collective (2023), ‘ Presence is Present’; The Harvey Gantt Center (2024) and ‘Role Play’ at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2024).
Artist Statement
My work is a visual archive of memory, translated through paint. These portraits and figurative scenes give voice to the people I know and love. Their stories, shaped by joy, hardship, tradition, and nuance, deserve to be seen and felt. I focus on friends and chosen family, capturing everyday moments that carry emotional weight. The images reflect snapshots from childhood, inherited gestures, or quiet rituals of care met in our adult selves. Each piece is both documentation and tribute, honoring how we have lived similar yet vastly different lives. My process begins with conversation. I sit with my subjects and let them talk, taking photos from various angles as they share memories. Through tone and detail, I select the image that carries the message most clearly. Their body language becomes just as important as their words, guiding how I paint. It is never primarily about recreating likeness. I work primarily in oil, layering rich color and soft glows to create a dreamlike sense of time. My technique is intuitive, guided more by feeling than precision. I often use unnatural skin tones to build emotion. The palette reflects their aura and what is being remembered. Neon and pastel tones carry lightness and nostalgia from childhood. I want viewers to feel that intimacy and be drawn in, maybe even overwhelmed. I am drawn to those often overlooked, especially Black women, men, children, and queer individuals. Painting, for me, is an act of love, preservation, and resistance.
