Abduction, Acrylic on Repurposed Linen, 2018

Broken Heart, Acrylic on Repurposed Linen, 2018

Rainbow Cleanse, Acrylic on Repurposed Fabric and Paper, 2017

Deposing the Monster, Acrylic and Stitching on Repurposed Linens, 2017

Shaman, Acrylic on Repurposed Linens, 2018

Exorcism, Acrylic and Stitching on Repurposed Linens and Paper, 2017

Green Chair, Acrylic on Repurposed Linens, 2018

Floating Cottage, Acrylic on Repurposed Linens, 2018

 

 

Artist Statement:

Through personal and universal icons my work explores multiple states of reality. Figures, animals, and objects appear in metaphorical narratives which explore humankind’s connections, disconnections and impact upon the natural world. In recent years, I have been painting on antique domestic linens. The textiles reference traditional women’s handicrafts, and an ecologically conscious art making practice. In addition, the pretty feminine cloths serve to juxtapose the sometimes-dark imagery.

The pieces are inspired by the things I see, feel and experience; both the personal and the sociopolitical. I am moved by the exquisite beauty in the world, as well as the absurdity and ugliness. The inevitability of death (that of all sentient beings) and the seeming unavoidable demise of the natural world, affects me, and inspires images.  I am interested in seeing how meanings arise and change when “the ordinary” is taken out of context; when recognizable things are juxtaposed or depicted in unexpected ways. My hope is that the pieces will be experienced in poetic way, that viewers will have an intuitive response based on their own experiences and ways of seeing.

 

Kelli Scott Kelley’s work is comprised of mixed-media narrative paintings, drawings and objects. She has also collaborated with her husband, composer Bill Kelley, on surreal performances and video pieces. Kelley was born in Baton Rouge. She received a BFA from LSU and earned an MFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay area, and then Houston, before returning after 15 years to her hometown with Bill to raise their son and to teach at LSU in 2000, where she is currently a Professor of Painting in the School of Art. Kelley’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally at museums and galleries, including solo exhibitions at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Bradbury Art Museum, The Masur Museum of Art, Micholson Museum of Art, and the LSU Museum of Art. Kelley authored a book featuring her narrative artwork entitled Accalia and the Swamp Monster in 2014. She received an ATLAS (Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars) grant for the project. Kelley’s work is featured in the permanent collections of the Hall Art Foundation, LSU Museum of Art, Tyler Museum of Art, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Special Collections, and the Eugenia Summer Gallery. Kelley’s work is represented in New Orleans by Soren Christensen Gallery, and she is a long time artist member at Baton Rouge Gallery Center for Contemporary Art.