Painter Kevin Harris recently exhibited his paintings in Chestertown, Md. I saw his art several years ago when he had an exhibit at Sumner Hall. That was an emotional experience for me, and others; his portrayals of members of the local Black community moved us deeply. Harris appreciates Robert Ortiz for offering him his studio as a venue, and I took this opportunity to interview him about his art.

Harris was born and raised in Chestertown. His parents worked for the Vita Foods pickle factory, since closed. He attended Kent County public schools, graduating in 1974. A good basketball player, he says he ruined his knee while playing in the summer after the eleventh grade. This meant treatment at the Maryland Rehabilitation Center in Baltimore and federal support for his permanent disability.

His art training began in high school, where he took three periods of commercial art. He designed an album cover for a contest and his commercial art teacher encouraged him to pursue that field.

Having decided to study commercial art, Harris enrolled in the Visual Arts School in Baltimore. His first job as a graphic artist was for Tidewater Publishing in Centreville, Md.; he then worked for Reynolds & Reynolds Printing Co. in Chestertown, Md., and then at a newspaper in Dover, Del., his last job.

Having succumbed to opiate addiction for 30 years, Harris’s art career was derailed. He is frank about this experience. He came to realize that his best friends were doing him great harm. His family stood by him despite his mistreatment of them. He is grateful to God for permitting him to survive, to overcome his addiction, and to be reconciled with his family. To be with his mother again was a great blessing. Both his parents have since died.

He says he last used a drug on January 3, 2012, and three days later, he picked up his paintbrush. That made all the difference in his life. It means freedom to him. “It is what God has allowed me to do. All glory goes to God.” To be an artist is a joy for him, and he wants to continue painting.

Harris is often asked why so many people in his paintings are sad, especially young boys. He says there is a segment of our society that is not happy. Many people are struggling. That is why he does not paint smiles. He adds that he was born among people stuck in the dark.

Having learned his technique before his addiction, he paints on glass in black and white only — no colors. He uses only latex gloss paint.

Painting as Harris does on the back of a glass pane is difficult because he must paint it all backwards, and then turn it over for viewing. Sometimes he needs to fix a little piece. Sometimes the glass breaks. It takes hours to fix a little piece. He says that every time he does a painting over, he sees more. When he does it over, it’s always better.

That is why this piece has been titled “through a glass darkly.” Instead of the conventional usage, this expression highlights the artistic medium of glass with black paint. It enhances the artist’s subject matter, which is dark, sad, and painful. It also describes seeing the misery around us from which many people suffer — a dark, hidden reality that the artist wants to present so that people see it and recognize it.