BFA Thesis Exhibit

Kelsie Koerber

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Artist Statement

My work in this show, A Quiet, Unchanging Way of Life revolves around the captured image; first through photography and then the translation of these into paintings.   
 
Both of these mediums give me a voice to express my experience as a person, daily life and the feelings that come with it. Photography is a medium which can be a container to tell a story. I take my point and shoot everywhere and try to distort weird moments within reality to create surreal spaces within life. Abstracting the world around me with a camera is exciting to me along with the labor of process of developing, scanning, and editing a film photo.  
 
In painting, you have a way to take these fixed moments and change them, to make them your own. My paintings like my photographs almost always have a somber still mood to them. I am interested in the idea of purgatory, an environment of static, being stuck, in limbo. The figures in my paintings resemble the figures in my photography because they are both often nameless, in translation, quiet.  
 
With my work, I am extremely interested in ambiguous narratives to portray a feeling or emotion, particularly of people my age, youth. There is a very existential feeling among my generation, uncertainty in politics, economics, issues like climate change. I try and express this concerted anxiety through sickly colors, open absent spaces, and highlighting subtle figurative gestures such as a hand on a knee that would otherwise go unnoticed.  Much of my inspiration for my work comes from capturing moments with my camera. Going out in the world, watching people, how they move, interact. I take this with me to the painting studio and warp my images and experiences to create paintings that speak on the state of the human condition.
A collage featuring a variety of images of people, small images layered on top of large images. Click to view A collage featuring a variety of images of people, small images layered on top of large images. Full-Screen
A collage featuring images of people and building interiors, smaller images layered on lower half of composition. Click to view A collage featuring images of people and building interiors, smaller images layered on lower half of composition. Full-Screen
A photograph of two people standing in a parking lot. Click to view A photograph of two people standing in a parking lot. Full-Screen
A photograph of a man sitting at the bar in a diner. Click to view A photograph of a man sitting at the bar in a diner. Full-Screen
A photograph of the inside of a hair salon, taken from the outside window. Click to view A photograph of the inside of a hair salon, taken from the outside window. Full-Screen
A painting of the inside of a laundry mat, featuring 4 people. Click to view A painting of the inside of a laundry mat, featuring 4 people. Full-Screen
A photograph of two payphones in the dark. Click to view A photograph of two payphones in the dark. Full-Screen
A photograph of a sidewalk featuring a fire hydrant and litter. Click to view A photograph of a sidewalk featuring a fire hydrant and litter. Full-Screen
A painting of a faceless woman smoking a cigarette. Click to view A painting of a faceless woman smoking a cigarette. Full-Screen
A photograph of a crow. Click to view A photograph of a crow. Full-Screen
A collage featuring images of people and building interiors, small images layered on top of large across the composition. Click to view A collage featuring images of people and building interiors, small images layered on top of large across the composition. Full-Screen
A photograph of a woman and child walking while holding hands. Click to view A photograph of a woman and child walking while holding hands. Full-Screen
A painting of the inside of a bus or subway train. Click to view A painting of the inside of a bus or subway train. Full-Screen