Jamie Kelty, Only Connect, 2008 Collage 24" x 36"
American artist Jamie Kelty’s ‘oil constructs’ are short stories that draw on the observer’s frame of reference and memories. The work affirms the way we build up impressions of character and identity and explore themes of communication, intimacy, and isolation.
Kelty recycles found objects in an uncommon alliance with oil painting. The recycled and assembled objects embedded in the surface of the canvas act as props in these visual stories. Tearing, scraping, and sewing the canvas, imbues the work with a palimpsest-like effect. Colors appear as though dragged through the soil giving the paintings a visceral quality and textural depth, which is at once urban and elemental.
Growing up on a farm in Kansas, Kelty developed a strong connection to the earth and to the hand-made. But her work is also informed by strong classical training; the painting techniques, composition, and formal presentation pull inspiration from Egyptian tomb paintings, renaissance paintings, primitive art, and contemporary art.
Two recurring themes in Kelty’s work are the process of communication and ways of seeing. Fragments of communications technology are often embedded in her oil constructs (headsets, telephones, ear buds, and cables), but the message is left for the viewer to decipher. Glasses, light fixtures, cameras and lenses are visual punctuation marks that question our focus and provide a trail of narrative clues.
WEB:
www.jamiekelty.com
CONTACT:
jmz_east@verizon.net