Kelly Autumn

To me, printmaking is characterized by repetition involving intense states of perfection, and most often with myself, imperfection. I am interested in the discarded. My work suggests introspective themes that highlight patterns of growth cycles and second chances. I am especially intrigued by the feelings of how nature nurtures and our quest to reunite ourselves with the natural world within our structured spaces.

Initially, printmaking inspired me to draw upon my career experience working in the field of consignment. My values around this resourceful ideology turned me into a more conscientious artist. I experimented with recycled materials as a mindful practice and dialogue in my work. I have used reclaimed papers, leftover inks, plastics, wood, and fiber waste as repurposed stencils in many of my print editions. These salvaged forms offer great significance with a new purpose if taken out of their normal context. This process ultimately led me to my exploration of the landscape. I enjoy the challenge of capturing moments that explore our human desire to exist in a harmonious and responsible balance with nature. I began to work with arrangements of organic plant material to capture impressions. Pressing a leaf, a weed, or a flower would generate energy and decay in a composition, and that motif could be a powerful exploratory language through pattern. I try to represent this evidence in my monotype techniques. This is exciting to me as patterns are everywhere, including our DNA.

As my work grows, I always find myself somewhere in the middle between the predictable, organized order of printmaking and the unpredictable flow of painting. I crave variation. I am not a purist to any method, and experimenting with mixed media is a joyful part of who I am and my personal practice. Perhaps varying my mediums is a perspective that symbolically and subconsciously assumes my identity within my own mixed cultural heritage.