Santa Barbara artist Kenneth Korten was a soft-spoken and passionate person who lived an almost monkish life, mindfully minimizing his impact on his environment. He shopped at thrift stores and made his own stylistic alterations to the secondhand clothes he purchased so he was always looking good. He was a disciplined craftsman who slept on a mat in his workspace. He worked with metal, stone, paper, and wood and was largely self-taught.
The beautiful objects Ken created will always be with us. He possessed an amazing and intuitive ability to perceive and understand structures in nature. He created his elaborate designs without mathematical calculation — just careful observation, patience, and craftsmanship. He made lamps with folded paper, intricately folded metal sculptures, and beautiful carved pieces from hardwood. He would sometimes carve two intertwining spirals from a single piece of hardwood. His mobiles are perhaps his best-known sculptures.
Art reviewer Joan Crowder wrote, “Some of Korten’s works appear deceptively simple, but they look that way to us because their principles underlie many ordinary objects. Here, those principles become the art itself.” Crowder also wrote: “[T]he physical harmony of his forms triggers a similar feeling of harmony in the viewer.” Similarly, Ken often explained that his inspirations were “gifts” that came to him and that his objects were “tools” for meditation.
