Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Baker.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m currently living and working in eastern Washington, earning my master’s in fine arts from Washington State University. I relocated from Austin last August, after calling central Texas home for six years or so. Growing up in Dallas, I was lucky to spend as much time as I did in art museums, becoming intimately familiar with all kinds of work, but especially paintings. I fell in love with paintings, old Dutch masters and icy landscapes in particular, long before I imagined I could make them myself. Although I’ve branched out into exploring other mediums, painting will always be something I come back to. Every day, rededicating myself to the practice of painting teaches me new and better ways to exist—with patience, commitment, risk-taking, humility, resilience, and so on.
Please tell us about your art.
I am an interdisciplinary artist working with painting, video, and installation to harness the power of light and color, to contemplate and create dreamlike spaces
My interest lies in the liminal spaces that works of art exist in and create. These spaces can be physical places, or states of being, or a meeting between the two. They are places of transition, in-betweens that sit out of time.
Hovering between representation and abstraction, the paintings are translations of photos, that are translations of intricate still life constructions of reflective material and light. Realistically representing unrecognizable content in a traditional, seamless style imbues the finished paintings with a sense of mystery. The paintings are whispers, echoes from the void where the intangible lives.
The video work more directly represents dream-like spaces and wandering, ghostlike figures, borne out of a response to existing environmental lighting and architecture.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
My advice has always been and will always be to consistently engage in your practice if you are serious about being an artist. If you want to be a painter, paint every single day and really work to get better. If you want to be a sculptor, do the same. Sculpt something every day. Put in the work.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
For the next year or so, I’ll be showing primarily in the pacific northwest region, though I will be seeking out and am open to opportunities back home in Texas. I regularly update my Instagram and website with what I’m working on, and where I’ll be showing. People can show support by sharing my work and buying paintings or prints when I have them available.
Contact Info:
- Website: kelseybakerart.com
- Instagram: @kleppybizmo
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
