Retiree returns to the art world after retirement and a layered career

From childhood superhero drawings to silkscreen printing to graphic design and more, Alan Kinnard has navigated changing times and emerging art forms.

Now, at 71 years old and more than a decade into retirement, he continues to reinvent himself through art.

Alan Kinnard

Kinnard through pixels.

Behind the silkscreen

Initially studying social studies in college, Kinnard never expected to pursue an art career until his father suggested an art course. After declaring a minor in art, Kinnard was eventually introduced to silkscreen printing.

After graduating from Miami University in 1976, he continued to pursue the craft professionally and creatively. For many years, he worked at a wall printing firm in Columbus while also designing and showing his own works at regional galleries, but eventually had to step away, frequently getting sick from the chemicals.

In 1986, Kinnard started his own graphic design company, learning the industry through tutorials and taking on projects with entities such as the Columbus Dispatch and Columbus Museum of Art. His art took a back seat to his career – and growing children – until his retirement in 2011.

Alan Kinnard

Glitches meet the printer

Alan Kinnard

As Kinnard focused on creating his own art, he found himself drawn back to the errors he saw in printing and technology.

“I was always fascinated by the errors in the printing, the idea that the pixels aren’t supposed to be there,” Kinnard says. “(Then I thought), ‘What if I use them as design elements?’”

Starting with photos or screenshots of computer or television glitches, Kinnard creates patterns and layering effects to highlight how humans interact with technology and “specifically, what happens when things go wrong and how people react,” he says.

This type of work aligns with the techspressionism movement, the digital version of expressionism, but Kinnard still draws from his roots as a printmaker.

“I started out silk-screening, and to build the image, you need to think about it in terms of layers and how they’re going to pile on and make your image,” he says. “There’s a process to silkscreen, and that’s how I look at these digital pieces, too.”

Over time, Kinnard has created works that draw on the impacts and potential repercussions of climate change, artificial intelligence, extraterrestrial life and more.

Drawing inspiration from fellow techspressionism artists, as well as music such as English progressive rock, Kinnard lets the world around him drive his work.

“These pieces are just kind of, ‘Let’s see how this will turn out,’” Kinnard says. “To me, that’s what art is; see where it goes.”