Is there anything that’s really original anymore? Authentic? Curtis Killorn is on a hunt for those things in the small mountain town of Salida.
“I don’t want to conform to what is normal,” Killorn said.
When Killorn can’t find the original and authentic, he creates it. He is an artist, whose work can be seen on the sides of buildings around town, and in gallery owner Nikki Manes’ shop.
“He adds a lot of magic and sparkle and a lot of color,” Manes said. “He’s oozing out of every piece of art that he does—he makes everything that he touches magic.”
Killorn sells art in Manes’ shop. He also has a table there where people can watch him work. But it’s another project he’s been a part of in Salida, that has made him a bit of a celebrity.
“Some people thought it was vandalism, which technically it was,” Killorn said. “I went up on public land and painted something where paint shouldn’t have been.”
Killorn had been going to meetings in Salida, to try and get more public art in town. When things didn’t move fast enough, he decided to create public art anyway. He went up into the hills around Salida, and painted dead trees with biodegradable paint.
“To me it was an expression of ideas that were once dead, are now vibrantly alive,” Killorn said.
The day-glo trees were discovered by people hiking in the hills, and that created a buzz around town. No one knew who the mystery artist was. The trees got media attention, but Killorn never came forward.
“It was my little secret,” Killorn said. “Because I wasn’t attached to it, people were able to say, ‘Wow, look how cool Salida is.'”
Eventually he gave himself up, and has continued to paint trees around the community. His brush has touched about 20 trees in the area.
“They’re all over town now,” Manes said. “I love that they scream Curtis Killorn to me.”
Killorn said he has hopes for his painted trees. He said he wants them to inspire people to go out and create something themselves. He also said he would like to do a project one day, revitalizing a burned or destroyed forest. His plan would be to mix mushroom spores into the paint, and coat the dead trees with color.
“I’d paint this whole entire place and as it decomposes, the mycelium take over and create this beautiful lush area again,” Killorn said.
Until then, Killorn will continue to make anywhere he lives a more colorful place.
“Find something that’s weird and really step into it and do it,” Killorn said.
SCENES AROUND SALIDA
