Island People
A stroke of determination
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
Darren Quinn was preparing to embark on a professional golf career the day he found himself lying immobilized on an icy patch of road in the mountains of Utah after he was catapulted through the windshield of a car at 70 mph. He does not remember breaking his left wrist, right clavicle, left hip and his neck. He does not remember the darkness.
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"It was a combination of very bad weather and poor judgement on our part, drinking (alcohol)," said Quinn, who was not wearing a seat belt. "Basically we were two kids who made a big mistake. And got caught. You know, at that age, you're indestructible. Or so you think." Ken Irvine, the driver on that fateful day and now a restaurateur in Coronado, Calif., was wearing a seatbelt and was unharmed.
After injuries from a car accident ruled out a career as a pro golfer, Darren Quinn found a new interest in art.
Doctors in Utah fused Quinn's third through seventh cervical vertebrae while he remained unconscious for two weeks. His voice is still raspy from the tracheotomy. When he awoke, they told him he should get used to the fact that he would not walk or be able to use his arms. "I couldn't quite accept that," said Quinn. The truth he could not face: He had become a quadriplegic at the age of 20.
In the past 17 years, Darren Quinn has learned to accept life in a power wheelchair and has moved forward in undeniable "Q-ball" — as his friends call him — style. Most evident is his fresh enthusiasm for his upcoming art show at the Wild Banana Gallery in Wailuku, Maui.
"This will be his first real debut since he moved to the Islands (five years ago)," said Adrianne Martinez, co-owner with David Whitney of Wild Banana. Though Quinn enjoyed moderate success in California and sold big-ticket creations to collectors like 1992 America's Cup winner Bill Koch, there is little risk of his yielding to commercialism.
| Darren Quinn | |
| • | Age: 37 |
| • | Occupation: Artist |
| • | Quote: His advice to kids looking for adventure: "Be very careful because con- sequences are there. And sometimes they are more than you can imagine." |
| • | What's new: "Never Mind the Q-ball," art show at Wild Banana Gallery, 130 N. Market St., Wailuku, Maui, June 2-July 28 |
| • | More info: www.darrenquinnart.com or Wild Banana Gallery, (808) 242-4943, www.wild-banana.com. |
| • | Best buddy: Quinn's canine companion, Peso, picks up items and gives them to Quinn, and notifies people when Quinn needs help. It's a life filled with "small things that are really big things." |
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What excites Quinn about Wild Banana is the opportunity to be part of a venue for experimental artists. He did have pieces hanging in Lahaina galleries, but "my work just didn't sell out there," he said. "I didn't do enough dolphins and whales."
Quinn grew up in Coronado, where he played golf and volleyball, swam and skied, and generally lived the life of a 6-foot-1, 155-pound, witty, charming athlete. His golf prowess at Coronado High School earned him a scholarship to the University of Utah, but after one year he dropped out to attempt a career in golf. His parents had divorced when he was young, leaving his grandparents to raise him. "It all seemed pretty normal to me," he said of his childhood. When he had his accident, "everyone got back together. It's been that way ever since. So some good came out of it for the family circle." After 20 years apart, his parents remarried 1987.
Though he did study art before the accident, it wasn't until he gained enough strength in his right arm and an occupational therapist built a specialized hand splint to hold a paintbrush that he began to get serious. But even then he let his materials — and his thoughts — sit for about a year. First came the urge to sketch. Then he asked someone to help him with the acrylic paints.
"The frustration was huge," he said. "My range of motion was so limited." Even so, "the artwork that came from it was real rewarding."
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In 1995 he realized a lifelong dream by moving to the Islands, where he'd visited annually since his childhood. The year-round warm weather offers benefits beyond the psychological: It helps his physical therapy.
Darren Quinn's life as a quadriplegic has intensified his passion for painting.
Chuck Stromberg, the massage therapist and caregiver who lifts Quinn in and out of the wheelchair, attends to daily hygiene and supervises physical therapy, said he detects absolutely no self-pity in Quinn. "As I walk through Pa'ia, there isn't a corner that we go by that someone doesn't acknowledge him in a positive way," said the 53-year-old Stromberg. "There's this exuberance."
The hardships Quinn does encounter have helped his work evolve. "I would categorize it as expressionist," he said, "perhaps a little more abstract than before," with an emphasis on "chaos and experimentation." He has expanded from faces to full-figures, but still gravitates toward still life. Lately he has ventured into more mixed media, including duct tape. "These are turbulent times," he chuckled. "Must be durable." His real attraction is its texture and the attention it receives.
Martinez was one who took note. "I like his use of mixed media. He's throwing in these odd elements that you normally don't see in fine art, so he's really challenging people."
His studio is a screened area on the lanai of his Hawaiian-style house, labeled "the compound" by the many visitors who float in and out of the three modest buildings to help with meals and chores. Bathed in natural light and surrounded by foliage-covered walls that resemble a tropical jungle, Stromberg said it fosters a sense of tranquility.
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In this setting Stromberg helps mix paints, change brushes and water, and has learned over the years to anticipate how to "move things in a way that's easier for Darren."
Darren Quinn paints from his power wheelchair on the lanai of his Pa'ia home on Maui. He holds a paintbrush with a splint he calls "the claw."
For Stromberg, it is the process Quinn must endure that makes the work exceptional. "(Movements) that would take me five seconds might take him 15 minutes," he said. "Seeing the intenseness that he goes through to put that particular thought down ... it comes out in the piece."
Professionally, Quinn is most proud of the fact that his work is still changing and making people stop and contemplate. "I think there's a place for something other than the typical island artwork here," he said.
Personally, the man who describes himself as 100 percent spiritually independent and 50 percent physically independent ("once I'm set up to work or go somewhere, then I'm on my own"), believes that the passage of time and learning to "deal with things that need to be dealt with" has brought contentment. "I'm a happier guy," he said. "Somehow the dark corners aren't quite so dark, for sure."
His artwork continues to sustain him. "I do it just for my own personal love of making art. And when someone likes it and wants it in their house, that certainly makes me feel good. But I feel good about it regardless."
