Kelly Marshall
Biography
Kelly Marshall was born and raised in San Diego, CA and now resides in Seattle, WA. As a multidisciplinary artist, she creates a range of work centered around concepts of maternal exhaustion, invisible labor, and minor feelings in domestic spaces. Marshall holds a Masters Degree in Special Education and is in the second year of her MFA program at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Visual Studies. Marshall’s exhibition/publication history includes The Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; The Visionary Projects, NY; Shockboxx Project, Hermosa Beach, CA; Artist/Mother Network, Juried Exhibition; Carnation Contemporary, Portland, OR; Roaring Artist Gallery; and The Front Arte & Cultura, San Ysidro, CA. She is a founding member of the After/Time Collective in Portland, OR.
Statement
My work investigates my feral childhood, the between-space between neglect and whimsy in the arid Southern California landscape. Questioning the construct of the American dream; the ways it failed my family and how we survived. I use symbolic images and multimedia applications to explore speculative memories, how we inhabit spaces, or disappear within them. Giving material form to my memories within these relationships instigates a decay of self-presence. The object now holds the memory. Spaces are drawn, flattened, then reimagined in hollow line or dimension without form. An act of unsettling and repopulating. My objects are utilitarian, simple, awkward, and absurd. My drawings rely heavily on line. My performances explore the artifacts that remain once they are finished. They investigate care, sometimes gendered sometimes not. It’s unclear if these spaces and objects I create are public or if viewing them is intrusion into a private moment. This uncertainty excites me.
Gran’s Lipstick
They told me I was busy. Getting into everything. In my mind, I was a baby genius. I painted my whole self with the lipstick. Then I did it again. This time, I did it as an adult genius. I painted myself with the lipstick and then painted the picture of myself painted in lipstick, in lipstick. Color my lips, color my hips. That bedsheet I colored, I remember, as a teenage girl. Running down to the laundry, hoping no one would see. That sheet, now rags, rag tag. Tell me I’m pretty. Color Me Mine.
Interview
1/How do you make creative work whilst also actively mothering ?
It is a struggle, for sure. There was a period, when my children were young, when I didn’t make work for my own practice at all. I was focused entirely on survival. As my son’s health and disabilities became more manageable, I felt the spark again and was able to really commit to myself and my practice. Now that they are both teen/tweenagers, I have the ability to carve out more time for myself but it’s still typically after they are in bed and things are quiet.
2/What boundaries or challenges have you faced or overcome while working as an artist/mother?
There are many! In my case, I cannot leave them for residencies, go to openings, etc. because I am not able to physically leave them. Building community and finding audiences for the work is challenging as well. I have had to find alternative means of doing these things like online residencies and online community groups.
3/How has the Artist/Mother community helped you to reflect upon your practice ?
Artist/Mother Network has been essential in my growth and development as an artist. I have had the privilege of attending graduate school during the pandemic and my critique groups have been the calming voice during this physically and intellectually challenging time. It has given me a support system! I see that the work is influenced by my interactions with my peers in my critique groups and their constant curiosity. I have gained valuable experience and been able to achieve major artistic goals as a result of the amazing women I am surrounded by.
4/How are you disrupting the idea of the “good mother” or idealised mother in your arts practice?
>Oh I’m not sure I’m disrupting anything other than a literal demonstration of my own parental failings. Perhaps that’s it though. If we are not afraid to admit those failings in a public way, maybe that’s enough to disrupt the narrative.
5/How has art making helped you to become more resilient and maintain your wellbeing ?
Art is where I find space for all of the things in my life I cannot reconcile. It is also where I get lost, experience joy, and find freedom. I love the times when I go into the studio and get lost in the work. Hours will go by and the world outside disappears. During graduate school, I have experienced a range of emotions around “success”. I’ve had to completely disrupt the narrative of what that looks like in order to muddle through and find my voice. In doing so, I have let go of so many ideals around skill, beauty, audience, etc and that freedom has led to a lot more play. My imagination is the only limitation now.
6/What do you feel you carry as a mother?
I have a disabled child. There is no break, no rest. It requires constant vigilance. I want, so desperately, for the world to be kind to both of my children. I worry that I am not enough for either of them.
7/How does drawing or process driven methodologies inform your practice?
Drawing is the foundation of my practice. Whether through sketch, printmaking, or through material, there is a strong element of line present throughout all of the work. I am currently focused on creating a sense of emotionality with line quality and abstraction. My interest in taking my drawings into a third dimension has led to an investigation of architecture and space. I love the idea of taking a line drawing and playing with dimensionality. Giving the drawings form while maintaining the essential “drawing” quality of the line.
