Authors Interviewing Characters: Alex Kenna
About What Meets the Eye:
Kate Myles is a down-and-out PI struggling to rebuild her life after an accident and opioid addiction destroyed her family and LAPD career. In need of cash, she reluctantly agrees to look into the suspected suicide of a famous artist, Margot Starling.
Margot Starling seemed to be on top of the world. Beautiful, rich, and talented – her paintings routinely fetched millions at auction. But Margot struggled with mental illness, trauma, and a healthy dose of self-loathing. As Kate soon learns, Margot also had a cruel streak and a long list of enemies.
What looked like an open-and-shut case takes Kate on a dangerous journey into LA’s criminal underworld.
Alex Kenna, author of What Meets the Eye, interviews Margot Starling from the other side.
Kenna: First of all, I’m sorry I killed you off. I hope there are no hard feelings.
Starling: Are you kidding me? I was about to show my work at the Venice Biennale – the biggest art exhibition in the world – and you ruined it. You could have at least waited a few months.
Kenna: Fair, mea culpa. But let’s move on. How have things been for you since you died?
Starling: Well, my love life’s taken a major hit, with my being dead and all. But professionally, things have never been better. An artist’s prices always go up after they kick the can. My paintings are selling for fortunes at auction. Museums are planning retrospectives. I’m a star – people even dressed up as me for Halloween.
Kenna: Glad you found a silver lining. I heard one of your self-portraits broke a record at Sotheby’s.
Starling: That scribble wasn’t mine. It wasn’t even good; I can’t believe anyone paid $20 for that, let alone $20 million. Some fraudster is getting rich off my good name, and diluting my brand.
Kenna: Sorry to hear that. I’m sure someone will figure it out and correct the mistake.
Starling: Please, when there’s money to be made, everyone looks the other way. Especially since I’m not around to complain.
Kenna: You seem pretty cynical about the art world.
Starling: Well I’ve been doing this for a while now, I know how it works.
Kenna: Let’s talk about your art. You mentioned your brand. Can you tell me about that?
Starling: I went in for shock art when I was younger – it was all the rage after the Young British Artists.
Kenna: The who?
Starling: You know, like Damien Hirst with his dead shark in formaldehyde. What a crock. I tried to be shocking for a while to get attention. But then I got bored of it. So, I decided to make something with real meaning. Something about justice and revenge. And I don’t mean that in an abstract way. There was gonna be some real fallout after the Venice Biennale. Heads were gonna role. But you had to go and kill me off.
Kenna: I said I was sorry! Did I really ruin everything?
Starling: No – I have a feeling the truth will come out. It always finds a way. And in a few years, I’ll be bigger than Picasso.
BUY WHAT MEETS THE EYE HERE
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Alex Kenna is a lawyer, writer, and amateur painter based in Los Angeles. Before law school, Alex studied painting and art history. She also worked as a freelance culture writer and sold art in a gallery. Originally from Washington DC, Alex lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, and giant schnauzer, Zelda. Her debut novel, What Meets The Eye, is available for pre-order and will be released December 6, 2022.
Follow her on Twitter @alexkenna9
Find out more about her on her website https://www.alexkenna.com/
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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