Lind lights up PYO

The air at the downtown Los Angeles PYO Gallery was filled with high-energy, excited faces, as guests gathered to examine paintings categorized as "process art" for their thorough detail.

The artist behind it all, whose 50 years of work brought attendees together, is Kyle Lind, who started painting at age 2, and said that his inspiration is “the conscious of life; the process of becoming.”

Lind's current exhibit, "Freaking Out," had its opening reception at the PYO Gallery LA last Saturday, March 23.

“It’s so beyond the pencil and canvas," Lind said, as he explained his definition of process art. "It’s connected with God.”

An eight by 16-foot mixed media canvas, titled "Cartoon in the Interior of an Atom," was the centerpiece of the exhibit. The piece took Lind 44 years to complete, and was the only item hung in the gallery that was not for sale.

“Kyle was talking to me about it for 14 months,” Aileen Watanabe said of the piece. “I cried when I finally unraveled it.”

Watanabe is the CEO of RMK Services, a staffing and contract management company. She was introduced to Lind by a mutual friend, and after spending the afternoon eating vegan food with him and seeing his work, she not only helped him in setting up the exhibit, but also assembled a crew to do a documentary on him, she said.

“I was drawn to him because I loved that he was like a little kid,” Watanabe said.

Raphael Gomez, an employee of Red Sky Productions, the company filming the documentary on Lind, was overwhelmed by the pieces in the exhibit.

“The closer and closer you look, the more details you see,” said Gomez, who was also photographing the event.

Watanabe shared Gomez's assessment of Lind's work.

“I used to have 75 of his pieces in my office, and every single time I’d look at them I’d find something new,” Watanabe said.

Hyun Sang Joo, music director of the Los Angeles Symphony, was also in attendance at the opening reception.

“He’s a very famous artist," Joo said. "This is fantastic. It’s very atypical painting — a trick for the eye to see.”

Watanabe said she was honored that Lind let her show all of his work.

“Kyle’s never trusted anybody with these many pieces," she said.

Lind was born in Michigan in 1940, but lived in Hollywood for 25 years. He was a dancer in the 1960s and '70s for several bands as a member of Vito’s Dancers, a dance troupe that performed with The Doors, Frank Zappa and others.

Webisodes of the in-process documentary, as well as art by Lind, can be found at kyleaugustlind.com.

The exhibit will continue through Saturday, April 20 at PYO Gallery LA, located at 1100 S. Hope St. #105, 90015.