Meet Winsor Kinkade | (they/them) Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Winsor Kinkade and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Winsor, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My day job is as a community mental health social worker. I offer mental health groups that are rooted in collective healing, community organizing, creative art forms, intimate connection with the land and animal kin, our body’s innate wisdom, and radical imagination. I use creating art as a form of therapeutic expression with my clients. I went into this field initially because of my own experience with mental health struggles throughout my life and in the lives of those closest to me. There are oppressive systems at play that create illness and inequity among many communities. Creating art offers solidarity and growth. Art can act a powerful form of protest. For myself, as a queer femme artist and social worker, I recognize the importance of using art as a method of healing, reclamation of voice, and resistance. Some of the most healing moments I have experienced have been through creating or witnessing art that moves me. Art has, indeed, on many occasions, saved my life.

I believe in the transformative power of personal expression alongside collective action. I believe creating art can be one way of exercising radical hope. The very act of creating art is an act of hope, of protest – in that moment we believe we are capable of making something new. Art and social change are often woven together in a seamless way. I would like to see my art act as a form of activism through various mediums, all with the common goal of bringing attention to and divergence from our current systems of oppression. Artistic activism, as a cultural approach, is crucial for political and social resistance. My hope is to create moving experiences that prompt people to question the world as it is, imagine a world as it could be, and join together in community to make that new world real.
Radical solutions to systemic oppressions require creativity and imagination similar to that used in art making. With QTDBIPOC artists and individuals like André Henry, Morgan Harper Nichols, Alok Vaid-Menon, and Favianna Rodriguez leading the way, it is possible to imagine something, some day, beyond what we have now.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One of my favorite photos from my childhood is of me, about 3 years old, looking up at my dad as he paints plein air by a river. From a young age, my dad would take us to climb hills, walk along the bluffs by the ocean, or visit a nearby pond to sketch, paint, and be in connection with the land. I feel immensely grateful to have been surrounded by the healing power of creative expression since the start.

Each chapter of my life from the very start has been intertwined with creating art, and I have every intention of keeping it that way. My life has been closely intertwined with artists since I was born, and I have learned that we are a unique bunch. We often feel deeply, live boldly, and color outside the lines, so to speak. I’ve learned that this is important to me: to always pursue art because of my desire – my need – to express my joyous and aching heart. My artistic practice has always and will always be engrained in my desire for radical healing on a collective and personal level.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My heart is always filled by visiting places that call me back to myself. These places tend to be oceans, bends in the river, and murals. When it comes to my favorite murals in town that I would want to show off, I would have to include the murals by Manuel Unzueta. My two favorites are his pieces at La Casa de la Raza and Eastside Library. His murals shed light on many powerful themes, including Chumash presence and vitality, the Chicano movement, and critique regarding Santa Barbara’s past.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would me remiss of me if I did not acknowledge the work of artists who have inspired me most in my journey. Some I know personally, like Dra. Belinda Hernandez Arriaga, who has guided me as a social worker and an artist, and who recognizes that creative expression heals, y cultura cura. Other artists I do not know personally, but am humbled and ever-inspired by their interpretation of the world and their desire to create new realities, such as Jeffrey Cheung, Bisa Butler, and Mary Oliver.

Website: www.winsorkinkade.com

Instagram: @winsorkinkade_