ARTIST STATEMENT

I have always been fascinated by morality, and the modality of values. Often thinking about the origin of beliefs, and their range of adaptability, I am drawn to themes of conflict and anxiety, usually finding inspiration from my own experiences. My work is often abstract, large scale, and composed of vertical and inward movement.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Kelly Messer was born in 1980, and grew up in rural Minnesota. The rural lifestyle meant limited exposure to art or culture. That changed when she traveled to Munich, Germany on exchange, and then chose to study art. After studying for a BFA with a concentration in Interior Design at the University of Wisconsin from 1999 to 2003, Messer yearned for city life. In 2004 when she received an opportunity to manage a showroom at the Merchandise Mart designing spaces and commercial furniture, she quickly made the move to Chicago at the age of 23. Messer produced artwork for the showroom, and for NeoCon, the world’s leading platform event for the commercial design industry.

In 2005, adjacent to her design, and later, technology career, Messer started painting portraits using oils after attending a painting workshop at her Chicago residence. This practice became foundational in her regular learning, and introspection. Around this time, she took on several commissioned work; one of which can be found for an instrumental music album cover, Starbound, and in print, the Guitar World Magazine January 2015 issue. Since the mid 2010s, Messer practiced a variety of styles, and application of paint to explore the complex intersection of growth and transition. In 2017, Messer moved to abstract work, and began exploring the adversity that forms through progression. She says: “There has to be dialogue; an exchange, and transition. Less resolution, more consideration.” Messer’s work began investigating and challenging the agency of transition.

Messer developed the interest in exploring transition after that pivotal move to Chicago on her own as a young adult. As a child growing up in a small town, the exposure to urban environments and art was infrequent. After traveling the states with family, and later internationally, Messer began discovering art, and different modus vivendi through new cultures. The experiences served to establish a curiosity, and a desire to explore new challenges. Her art asks a central question: “if we turn towards the heart of a challenge, what beauty is to be found there within?”