A Selection of Mixed-Media work by Kelley Richardson
Artist Reception First Friday, October 1 from 6-9 PM Santa Cruz Rehearsal Studios 118 Coral Street
Show will be available for the entire month of October.
If, what comes to mind, when you see a depiction of a skeleton is something scary, dark, morbid, or associated with certain cultural holidays, Kelley Richardson asks that you go away and come back when you have opened up your mind a bit. After all- you are being held up by one right this very minute. If you strip us all down we are pretty much alike, Kelley’s skeleton paintings are each portraits of the core – coupled with the fabric of experience, an emotion, a transformation.
Kelley paints skeletons because she is in constant state of self-reflection and contemplation of the human experience. Painting is how she processes the experience of being human in a sometimes inhuman world.
About the Artist:
My creation of artwork, whether with a camera or a paintbrush, is a necessary component in my intrinsic process as a human being. The work I create relates, in one way or another, to every facet of my life and in turn, every facet of my life relates to the work I create. I feel compelled to create images as I travel through my life and process my experiences. It is as if each piece I indulge myself in- becomes a road map of understanding for me as my experiences unfold. It is an exploration into my conscious and unconscious mind. Much of my artwork is reflective of the questions that I ask myself. Who are we as humans? as women? as mothers? as parents? as partners? as sexual creatures? as athletes? as biological machines? If I’m not excavating 'whom'… the next fueled fire is 'why'? Why are we this or that?, and who taught us to be? And why is this- this way or that way? Becoming a parent brought more questions…because now I have “little people” that are like clay in my hands, and in the hands of society. This has made me more aware of the artistry of life. If I am an artist in life, what responsibility do I have in the world at large and personally in the artwork of my family? I know that I have the capacity to affect the world at large with my art as member of society, and more readily to create art that has impact on my smaller world in terms of my community and my family. Our world is full of visual imagery, suggesting this or that, encouraging us one way or the other, begging us to think. I am completely enamored with the process of creating imagery that does just that… asks you, the viewer, to think. I create art about life, about process, about identity. My formal training and education in the fine arts were gained at The San Francisco Art Institute, where I earned my BFA with an emphasis on photography. This education taught me how to "see" with the sensibility of a fine artist and has given me an understanding of the world founded in a classical academic education.