Ordinary Objects: An Interview with Katherine Kesey
Space On Space: Describe your art practice.
Katherine Kesey: I work in strong cycles with hazy borders: resting, gathering, making, finishing, organizing, thinking. These activities overlap with each other. I often need incubation time between large projects to gather images, ideate, and build “creative strength.” Image-gathering in particular takes significant time. I use my own photography for references because I want the process to be as organic as possible. If I'm not working on a large piece, I'm usually drawing throughout the week. I often take breaks in the middle of a painting, but once a painting's finished, I rarely rework it.
Katherine Kesey in her studio.
SOS: What do you mean by creative strength?
KK: Excitement. I can paint or draw something on command, but that’s just a technical skill. I feel more creative force when I use patience between big projects. I like to think and anticipate, rather than mechanically grinding out one thing after another. I’d liken it to any kind of personal curation—one’s own fashion, furniture, or food tastes. It takes time to gather content that I feel positivity towards.
SOS: How long does it typically take to complete your larger paintings?
KK: It varies. Lately, I’ve been working on paintings that are 5 feet by 6 feet, and they take 12 to 24 hours to complete, not including stretching the canvas. Those hours are dispersed over two to three weeks.
Normal Objects, 48” x 36”, oil and pastel on canvas, 2022.
SOS: Does collecting play a role in your practice?
KK: Absolutely! Mostly I collect photos and ideas, rather than physical objects, though occasionally I do that, too. I'm always thinking about being out in the world—going to parties, or shops, or wherever—as my inspiration. When you paint ordinary objects, you can find the content just by existing. I've always got a disposable camera or my phone with me in case I run into a cool vase of flowers or empty beer cans that happen to catch my eye.
SOS: Define ordinary objects.
KK: Something I see all the time or isn’t glittery or attention-grabbing. Ordinary is subjective. The things I see all the time could differ greatly from the things you see all the time. Subjectivity is the first building block of my work.
Impressions, 72” x 60”, oil and pastel on canvas, 2022.
SOS: I’m noticing a lot of repetitive objects. How do you choose such specific objects in your work?
KK: Sometimes, things pop out at me. It has a lot to do with formal elements like color, balance, and positioning. I love things that I know will be fun to mix the paint colors for. When an object is meeting those requirements, I tend to paint it again and again. I was really stuck on crushed beer cans for a few years and, in a lot of ways, it just came down to how colorful and shiny they are.
SOS: What is it about a still life that you’re drawn to? I’m reminded of Vanitas paintings with flowers, skulls, and wine glasses.
KK: Somewhere in the Louvre, there are several rooms of Dutch 18th-century paintings of flower vases. When I walked in and saw them for the first time, I nearly lost my mind. I was so in love. Vanitas have that same enrapture for me, too, or Édouard Manet’s Vase of Peonies on a Small Pedestal. I think there’s something so beguiling about those still lifes—something luxurious and beautiful. Still lifes draw me in because they’re prearranged to look candid. They have this element of forced naturalism. When a person is selecting what goes into a still life, they start to touch on these ideas of collection and narration that I’m intrigued by.
SOS: Does space play a role in your work?
KK: It does. I mess with dimensions, depth, and transparency. I'm constantly moving objects into the foreground or background, flattening them, and changing the size of objects. My technique has a lot to do with my background in graphic design. My brain automatically thinks about everything as if it were a layer in Adobe Illustrator that can be shifted upwards or downwards, scaled and dragged, or masked. It’s very straightforward: Each part of the painting is an object that I can select and change.
SOS: In your artist statement, you mention your interest in the science of meaning and "exercising power as a narrator." I am curious how or if your work operates from within a feminist discourse.
KK: My work is definitely all about autonomy and experience, things which feminist discourse cares a lot about. I take a canvas and fill it with things I love or hate or saw yesterday or maybe found on the Internet. Then I put it in front of you. Already, the power dynamic feels pretty skewed in my direction, since you’ve had no say over what you’re seeing. But, as I’m presenting you with this smorgasbord of my own perspective, I’m also doing my darndest to be an unreliable narrator. I’m manipulating proportions, putting in at least three things I don’t even care about, and floating a completely unrelated phrase in the middle of the sunset. My main goal is actually to point out that everyone’s perspective is pretty personal and subjective.
The PHC, 50” x 60”, oil and pastel on canvas, 2022.
THE ROASTING COMPANY
We used to go to karaoke night
until too many fights shut it down.
I was there once, when blood
spattered across the floor with hot sauce
and all the tables got pushed around.
I think I knew her, in the bathroom
sobbing about some boy.
A girl told me once her sister lost
her virginity to some asshole and
I laughed a lot about that because
I don't have a sister to tell
stories about me.
(The best thing about a fight is
everyone wants to own it themselves.
They recall the time of day like it
matters but to be honest I didn't actually
turn around in time to see it.)
(Taken from Katherine’s poetry zine, August Birthday)
To learn more visit katherinekesey.com or follow @katherinekesey.
Katherine Kesey is an oil painter, mixed media artist, and writer based in Los Angeles, CA. Kesey holds a degree in Graphic Communications from Clemson University, has studied at the American University of Paris, and recently completed her master’s in Fine Art at Otis College of Art and Design. Kesey’s work is made from compiling ordinary objects and scenes into collage-like compositions.
