Morro Bay artist Kirk Psenner connects with his younger self through sculpture 

If you ever wanted to see a 6-foot cat smoking a cigarette, head over to Cruise Control Cambria and check out the eccentric yet expressive and strangely comforting work of Kirk Psenner through Aug. 14.

Morro Bay artist Psenner told New Times he knows his art is a bit different, but it's been a way for him to connect with himself on a deeper level because art is all about personality and has no rules.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Kirk Psenner
• FRIEND OR FOE Located outside of artist Kirk Psenner's home studio in Morro Bay, a 6-foot-tall Mexican Ranchero holds flowers in front of him and a gun behind him. Find more of his work on display at Cruise Control Gallery in Cambria through Aug. 14.

"As a young gay kid trying to conform and fit in, then as you get older you sit here and say, 'I don't want to do that, I don't have to do that,'" he said. "My rule is that I want everything I make to make me smile, and if people get that, and if they don't, that's OK too. You spend your childhood not fitting in and then as an adult you'll learn that not fitting in is a great thing. You just be you and then you find your people."

Expressing himself through art has given Psenner a "new childhood," he said, where he's able to be "honest, and kind, and good."

Psenner grew up in Fresno before he packed up and took off to LA at 18 where he began a career in real estate. After some years in the metropolitan city, Psenner said he decided it was time to move back to Fresno to be with family after his dad died. From there, his sister pushed him to explore the arts.

"My sister took me to a clay studio, and I took a month of classes and was hooked," he said. "It's been an obsession ever since, and I do that pretty much full time now with a little bit of real estate on the side.

"[Pottery] taught me how to have no rules and just be completely free with it."

After years in Fresno, Psenner knew it was time to move to the Central Coast and decided to settle in Morro Bay where he started to craft in his home studio. Soon his house was overtaken by his statues.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Kirk Psenner
• LET ME FINISH MY SMOKE Kirk Psenner's trusty bulldog companion enjoys a cigar while on duty defending his house in Morro Bay.

"My whole front yard is a shitshow of ceramics—I'm talking about 6-feet-tall people, fun stuff, playful stuff, bright and colorful," he said.

One of his prized creations standing guard outside his home studio is a close to naked Mexican Ranchero with only a belt and cowboy boots holding flowers in front of him and a gun behind him.

"He's bright red, and you don't know if this is love or this is trouble," he said.

At first Psenner wasn't sure how his neighbors would feel about these huge statues outside his home, but he's received a lot of support.

"I'd work with my garage door open and what would happen is people would stop by, and that's kind of how I started selling my stuff," he said. "Now the rule is, if the garage door is open, you're welcome to stop by, and I've met the most incredible people that way. I started selling stuff at Grow Nursery in Cambria and that's how [Cruise Control Gallery] found me."

One of his favorite themes is cats: cats smoking cigars, cats eating, cats in clothes.

"I grew up with dogs all my life, loved them, but then I got my first cat and became obsessed with them. Now I'm on my second cat, and I'll probably get more," he said. "I just like their independent nature, and they're funny.

Psenner said he initially decided that he would make cats until he got tired of them and then he would hyper-fixate on something else. However, that obsession hasn't died down yet.

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• Photos Courtesy Of Kirk Psenner
• SASSY CATS Kirk Psenner crafted two large kitties donning nothing but a belt and some sass, doing what cats do best—judging.

"The response to the cats has been so great, but I keep thinking of new ideas, new positions, new ridiculous smoking cats, cats with their tongues out, carnie cats, portable cats stacked on top of each other," he said. "I just haven't run out of ideas, and I have this huge book of ideas of cats that are 6 feet tall and just ridiculous stuff."

Almost every single one of Psenner's creations has a backstory, which he helps bring to life through the colors he chooses to paint them or by their expressions.

Psenner said he really enjoys building a family unit through his art, where there's the protagonist who has parents and a love interest. Most of these family relations can be viewed at Cruise Control Gallery.

"So at the gallery there's Vic, who's an older dude with a cigarette and got paroled from the Men's Colony to reunite with Hector, who's his long-lost love," he said. "Then there's Vic's mom at the gallery, too, and she's a rough looking woman who has a neck tattoo that says Vic." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Samantha Herrera at [email protected].