Kelly Vetter | Day 29

Born in Jersey City, named after dad’s favorite pub, and raised in between the malls and highways of the asphalt coated garden state… a post punk suburban life backlit by a skyline of refineries, creating hazy curtains that veiled a twinkling, dreamlike Manhattan skyline.

Influenced by this surreal scene and a formal education in the arts at Pratt Institute, Kelly Vetter creates an allegorical alternate universe of miniature paintings on panel, artworks employing recycled paper and ephemera evoking a fractured fairytale fantasyland.

In my work I have always been interested in re-appropriation, recycling and reinterpretation; the distortion of the known for the new and unknown. The approach could be described as a rebellion, a play on words, a tongue in cheek reflection. I have been working mostly in small scale illustrative paintings, drawings and mixed media assemblages, often employing cast off/ flea market ephemera .These include old photos,paper ephemera books, personal keepsakes cast aside, which serve as the inspiration, or even the immediate direct surface. 

Working sculpturally with found objects, broken dolls, discarded objects and steel wool, a recent body of work calls to mind Victorian factory girls, cast iron kitchens born of domestic hardship. Mice and rats formed from dryer lint and steel wool serve as spiritual messengers and allegorical mascots of my Irish roots and the ideas of displacement, migration and resilience. 

Paintings that rework the surface of old photos and advertisements encourage the viewer to consider themes of life and legends that are timeless, the idea that one soul can stand in as an avatar for a similar self in modern day experience and intent.

The overall imagery in my work is the product of my love for storytelling, allegory , symbolism and objectification; the idea that a moment or object can act as a talisman and hold emotional powers and triggers for each of us. Iconography, ideas , and ideals are are explored in intimate, story book sized images that invite interpretation and intrigue.

The works submitted for “We are the resistance” are new paintings that introduce a series named ‘Alphabettys” which will explore women’s history and noteworthy women through time; who seem to have been sexualized or demonized in its retelling. I seek to correct that here.  

Kelly has exhibited with Revolution Gallery in the group shows “We are the Resistance” and “Drawn Out.”

We are excited to work with Kelly again in 2022!