Guyla - A Glossary of Art Terminology

Kachina: Any supernatural being important in the religion of the Hopi Indians of Arizona, USA, represented in painted figurines (kachina dolls) and in costumes of ritual impersonators wearing masks and costumes.

Kagle: A rough, highly abstracted African mask of the Dan people.

Kakemono: In Japanese art tradition, a painting mounted for hanging vertically.

Kanshitsu: In Japanese art tradition, a technique of building up layers of lacquer reinforced with hemp over a clay core to form hollow sculpture.

Karat: A unit of weight for gemstone, one karat is equal to one fifth of a gram or 200 milligrams. Also spelled carat.

Key: A small interlocking device in the seam of a mold, enabling the mold to be precisely reassembled. Also, the relative lightness or darkness of a picture or the colors employed in it. A predominantly light painting is said to have a high key. In contemporary mural painting, the key is the result of scratching a walls surface to prepare for final layer of plaster - similar to "tooth".

Kickwheel: A potter's wheel which is driven by kicking a revolving cement or weighted disk. The major alternative is a wheel driven by an electric motor.

Kinetic Art: Kinetic art is art that incorporates movement as part of its expression - either mechanically, by hand, or by natural forces.

Kiln: A furnace or oven built of heat-resistant materials that can reach very high temperatures for firing pottery or sculpture. Kilns may be electric, gas, or wood-fired. Also, a furnace that is used for burning out investments for lost wax casting, used for jewelry or sculpture, or a small oven used for the purpose of enameling.

Kiln-Sitter: Trademark for a mechanical control designed to cut off electricity to a kiln when a desired temperature has been reached. At that temperature the pyrometric cones placed in the Kiln-Sitter bends, or, in digital versions, a touch-pad is used to program the firing of the kiln.

Kiln Wash: A refractory mixture, usually kaolin or flint, which is mixed with water and painted on kiln shelves to prevent glaze from adhering.

Kitsch: This term refers to the "low-art" artifacts of everyday life. Paintings of Elvis on velvet, lamps from the statue of David, and clocks in statues of Budda. The term comes from the German verkitschen meaning "to make cheap."

Knife Painting: The technique of applying paint with a palette knife.

Knowledge: The remembering of things previously learned. This may involve the recall of a wide range of material, from specific facts to complete theories; involving all that is required in the bringing to mind of appropriate information.

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