'The beautiful thing about growing up white trash is that I was fearless when it came to art'
Kim Dorland's upbringing gave him the courage to pursue a career making his boundary-pushing paintings
But for Dorland, a career in the arts was something he had to fight for. "My father died at a really young age for a really stupid reason. I think I was kind of on that path myself," he says. "When I first started painting, my class really was important to me — to remember that I sort of came from white trash. Like, I grew up really poor. I lived in a trailer that we rented."
"The beautiful thing about growing up white trash is that I was fearless when it came to this because if I failed, it's not like I was going to be disappointing anyone in my family...At the time, I was really just stupid. Who goes into the arts? But I didn't have that fear. I'm not in here making product. I'm trying my best to make art — and art, I think, comes from challenge."
Art Minute is a new CBC Arts series taking you inside the minds of Canadian artists to hear what makes them tick and the ideas behind their work.