walking backwards to time: “Open to the Public” Lecture with Kevin Townsend

A creative practice doesn’t always unfold in a straight line.

For his “Open to the Public” Lecture at the Kansas City Artists Coalition (KCAC), artist Kevin Townsend presented walking backwards to time, a talk developed within the larger Method in the Making framework and structured around a nonlinear journey through his work, life, and creative practice.

The title provided a fitting description of the way Kevin moved through the evening. Rather than presenting a chronological progression from one project to the next, he moved between works, opportunities, educational experiences, and significant moments in his life—following one connection forward before looking backward to something that had informed it, which in turn opened another path through the work.

That movement gave Kevin room to look across a practice that has included drawing, installation, performance, public work, works on paper, video, and photography while considering some of the questions he has carried with him along the way. He spoke about imperfect action, continuing to make when you cannot quite see where the work is going, and the throughlines that can become more apparent when looking backward across a body of work.

Language itself also became part of the conversation. Kevin introduced terminology he uses to describe his practice, then slowed down to pull those words apart—looking at their origins and individual components and considering where those definitions aligned with, or even contradicted, the way he was using them.

And before the lecture began, some members of the audience had the opportunity to encounter Kevin’s practice in another way.

Sitting face-to-face with Kevin, each participant extended a hand into the recording field of his camera. Kevin dipped his fingers into a pre-measured amount of powdered graphite and slowly rubbed the entire amount into the participant’s hand. A sheet of white paper between them collected the charcoal dust that fell during the process.

Participants then put on white cotton gloves and could leave the graphite on their hands for as long as they wished. When they were ready to remove it, the gloves and wipes used to clean their hands were returned to Kevin.

The drawing encounter became part of an evening that moved between talking about a creative practice and experiencing one of its processes firsthand.

Throughout walking backwards to time, Kevin also spoke about the different identities that exist alongside his work as an artist, including being a teacher, husband, and father, while moving among the projects, experiences, and opportunities that have accumulated across his practice.

That kind of closer look at how a creative practice actually develops is part of what KCAC’s “Open to the Public” Lecture Series makes room for. The series invites artists, educators, academics, and cultural workers to share their work and the ideas, histories, experiences, and questions surrounding it. The lectures are free and open to everyone, creating opportunities to encounter creative practices beyond what we might see in an exhibition or finished work.

If you missed Kevin Townsend’s walking backwards to time in person, the full lecture is now available on KCAC’s YouTube channel.