Blue Sky Monday Special Is It All Day
Kelsey Grafton
Time & Circumstance
Kegel Family Homestead Bunkhouse
Impressions and insulation from the bunkhouse, hand-harvested earthenware clay and artifacts sourced from the family homestead
16"×10"×4"
2021
From the Homestead to Hometown project supported in part by the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts.
Witness
Time & Circumstance
Ceramic, textures, and bone
11"'×7"×5"
2021
From the "Homestead to Hometown" project supported in part by the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and The National Endowment for the Arts
Becoming
ceramic, organic materials, found objects, and conviction
8.3'×3'×5'
2021
What is the true cost of free shipping?
Who pays the price?
Mum
The Trees of Morrow
ceramic, pigmented wax, organic material
18"×15"×5"
2021
Mar-Oak Tree
Mixed Media
4'×4'×11.5'
2019
Remnant
Trees of Morrow: The Remains
ceramic
14.5"×11.5"×6.5"
2020
"Remnant" serves as an allegory for our interconnected relationship with our natural resources. This personification lends a kindred voice to the trees, in hopes that we might see ourselves tied to their fate. If we fail as stewards of our collective ecosystem, we will all suffer the consequences.
The Protector
ceramic, steel, and found object
5.5'×4'×3'
2021
On a trip up the Snake River with my father we stopped at the first beach outside of Asotin, WA. I found a bobber overhanging the water, held tight by outstretched limbs. I climbed out and untangled the snag. On my journey back to the shore I found another line and followed it back. It had been absorbed by time and had become engulfed by the cambium. It was one with the tree.
We found the yellow bucket on this same trip, the metal stakes, rusted cables, a Marlboro pack, cigarette butts, bottles, cans, plastic bags, a nerf dart.
A year earlier I visited this same beach where I found an old tarp, a rusted-out bed frame, rusted cables, a soiled diaper, fast food containers, an arrow, cigarette butts, more cans, more bottles, more everything. Two full trash bags, and then some. It was on this trip that I realized that most of my finds were held by the roots of the trees.
It was here, standing at the waters edge in the smoke filled air from devastating wild fires, that I envisioned The Protector, a mythical being that stands vigilant at the water's edge with outstretched roots combing the waters to gather what we have left behind.
For years my father combed the shores of the Snake on his lunch breaks at the Port of Wilma. His collection of fishing lures hang from the flanks of The Protector as trophies of the hunt.
This piece stands as an homage to my father, the gatherer, and as a tribute to the trees, the protectors, for their contributions and sacrifice.
Resilience
wood, fire and found object
11.5"×9"×9"
2019
Through nature's resilience we learn that tragedy and hardship can become an opportunity to rethink, rebuild and redirect.
Moldering Remains
Trees of Morrow: Decay
ceramic and organic materials
7"×7"×4"
2021
Mold·er /ˈmōldər/ verb
1. slowly decay or disintegrate, especially because of neglect.
The cholla cactus is hardy and known for its resilience and ability to adapt to changing environments.
Moldering Remains serves as a warning that even the most adaptive living things will struggle to survive in their swiftly changing natural habitat.
The cholla cactus skeleton and organic materials serve as a momento mori, a warning or reminder of death, in reference to our own mortality and the impending demise of our ecosystem as we know it.
Morphosis
Trees of Morrow: The Trade
ceramic and organic found object
16"×4"×2.5"
2019
Morphosis is an allegory of unequal exchange.
The cholla cactus is hardy and known for its endurance and ability to adapt and survive in new situations and environments. Here, its skeleton merges with a remnant of a tire, a symbol of what we exchange for its natural existence.
Inside the hollow is a wasps nest representing our control over our life choices and circumstances and how they influence our evolution and progress.
Morphosis: The manner in which an organism or any of its parts changes form or undergoes development.
Evolve
Trees of Morrow: The Morrow
ceramic, pigmented wax, and organic material
16"×14"×3"
2021
What will become of what we once knew?
What, in time, will resilience look like?
Evolve is a series of biomorphic forms born from speculation of what is to come as our ecosystem shifts and adaptation becomes essential to survival.
It stands to reason that the most resilient, like the Cholla cactus, will remain resilient, because it is in its nature to be so. Though, it may be necessary to adapt and evolve into its new best form, which may appear otherworldly, and perhaps, a bit grotesque.
E·volve: develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complex form.
I wl nt tk knowledge fr grntd.
Remorse, white chalk, archival book tape, Richards Topical Encyclopedia, time and repentance.
2019
Tree of Knowledge
Forbidden Fruit:
Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil
ceramic, choices, conviction
15"×15"×12"
2020
The Apple computer is a contemporary conduit to unfettered knowledge, both good and evil. In 1979 Macintosh's Apple logo was developed as a tribute to Sir Isaac Newton, before the internet was born in 1983. This work draws parallels between the metaphoric apple from Eden's Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the self-fulfilling prophecy of the Macintosh Apple logo.
Are there parallel consequences for our indulgent consumption?
Forbidden Fruit
Vices & Virtues
ceramic, found object, gilding, confession, shame, remorse, acceptance.
15"×15"×12"
2020
This work explores my temptations, secrets, sins, and regrets. I have unearthed, named, and labeled them. They are on display for everyone to see. It is revealing, and unsettling. I allow others to peer inside and see for themselves that they are not the only ones with burdens, secrets, and regrets.
Many fruits rest inside this vanity case. Their state is a direct reflection on how the corresponding confession played out in my life. Many temptations are left whole, some tasted, while others have been devoured to their core.
First Taste
Ceramic
aprox 2.5"×2.5"×2.5" per pc
2020
What are your forbidden fruits? What are your temptations? Did you walk away, or did you sample a taste? Perhaps, you tried it and liked it, and went back for more.
What I love most about this series is the conversation between the pieces. It is emotive. It reflects a myriad of feelings evoked after a first taste of forbidden fruit. The desire for more, the remorse, the doubt, the longing.
Descendant Vase
Ceramic and Mixed Media
16.25"×9"×8"
2020
The personal knowledge of our ancestors is only three generations deep. Over time, knowledge is lost and a new (history, memory, era, legend…) begins.
Nostalgia
Aura
GUARDIAN SERIES
Mixed Media
29"×15"×5"
2019
Aquarius
GUARDIAN SERIES
Mixed Media
28"×15"×5"
2018
Apis
GUARDIAN SERIES
Mixed Media
28"×15"×5"
2018
Hindsight
Lost
wood, fire and found object
11.5"×9"×9"
2019
Endless Retreat
wood, fire, found object, and memory
10"×9"×7"
2019
Going Home
Clay & Found Object
1.5" to 3.5" each
2020 Alternative Media Plein Air
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA PLEIN AIR
Sitting on a rocky shore on Lake Coeur d'Alene I found inspiration. I was inspired by texture and landscape; the sound of lapping waters; the dancing reflection of the sun. In this moment it was the object's touch that drew my attention, and it was clay that yielded my most intrinsic response.
Findings
2019
A series of mixed media collages inspired by artifacts found that were forgotten, lost or discarded. They have been collected, reassembled, and transformed into totemic connections of new beginnings.
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LOOKING UP
turquoise, ceramic, organic and found objects
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WATER BEARER
turquoise, copper and enamel, ceramic and found object
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ECLIPSE
turquoise and found object
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MISCHIEF
turquoise, ceramic, organic and found objects
Visit the FINDINGS tab to view the complete series.
lewellyngrese1937.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.blueskymondays.com/
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