Kevin Bermudez
Born 1995 in Northridge, California
Tierra del Sol artist since 2016
Kevin Bermudez, born 1995 in Northridge, California, has been making art in Tierra del Sol Studios since 2016. With a practice that traverses ceramic, textile, painting, and drawing, Bermudez creates work that primarily explores the way of the ninja. Like many artists through the ages, Bermudez is drawn to the code of the samurai – strength, honor, skill, and loyalty – as well as to the visual narratives that demonstrate the warrior code. Fascinated by classic ninja and samurai action movies, Bermudez supplements his cinematic influences with extensive research about Japanese culture, folklore, and philosophy. Bermudez creates both life-size, stylized portraits of powerful warriors in ornate armor as well as small-scale, black-and-white line drawings of densely populated figures. Where his large-scale works emphasize the sacred power and honor of his subjects, Bermudez’s practice as a whole is emboldened by the subtle humor of his line drawings, which playfully depict ninjas dancing, watching movies, or flying kites. The visual language Bermudez employs in his works on paper continues in his ceramic practice, where he crafts sculptures of ninja warriors, creatures of legend, and expressive masks inspired by traditional Kabuki theater costumes. More than anything, the beauty of Bermudez’s work is revealed in the way his characters interact with one another. Bermudez constructs complex compositions where numerous figures are suspended in battle amidst sophisticated divisions of negative space and pattern. These scenes become even more dynamic when viewed in conjunction with Bermudez’s impactful army of colorfully glazed ninja sculptures, which continues to grow.
Kevin Bermudez’s debut solo exhibition, “Ninja,” was on view at Tierra del Sol Gallery in Fall of 2022. Bermudez has exhibited his work at the West Los Angeles College Gallery in Culver City, CA and he was included in “Space is the Place,” a group exhibition curated by Alison Saar.
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