Interview: Kelly Boehmer
Kelly Boehmer creates soft sculptures and performance artworks. She has exhibited and performed her work nationally and internationally in over 175 exhibitions, including shows including shows in Baltimore, Dallas, Miami, New York City, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, San Juan, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ivano-Frankivs'k, Ukraine (upcoming Summer 2024). She received her BFA in Studio Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA in Studio Art at the University of South Florida. She is a member of the performance art band, Glitter Chariot. Kelly is a Professor of Foundations Studies at Savannah College of Art and Design, in Savannah, GA.
Her soft sculptures portray a tragic sense of humor, celebrating the hidden beauty she finds in anxieties. Her creatures are metaphors for anxiety, weight gain, and aging. Kelly finds humor in her struggles with social anxiety, and changes in her body, and all her attempts to be “comfortable in her own skin”.
Read our interview with Kelly below!
Unicorn Tapestry, taxidermy, glitter, yarn, organza, and fur, 12 x 8 x 5 feet, 2016
PP: What motivates you to make art?
KB: My art is a way for me to wrap my head around something mysterious or start to understand a certain conflict in my life. It is a way of processing difficulty in relationships, fears of death, or understanding my social anxiety. Hopefully the viewer can project their own fears onto the work and process them, in the “safe space” created by all of the soft materials.
I love when I can surprise myself by trying a new material or technique – it’s addictive. I also feel a responsibility to my students to be a practicing artist. I can go through the struggles of art making with them and empathize more easily.
If I am ever in a rut, or feeling artist block, I will look through my art books. Of course, looking at works in person is ideal, but there is something about sitting with a book where it feels more intimate, and I can go at my own pace.
The artist at work in her studio
Studio view
PP: Walk us through a typical day in your studio or generally through your process to make new work.
KB: Often, my ideas start from a work from Art History. By the end of the process, the reference is usually not recognizable, but it is a helpful springboard for the work. I like to start with a rough gesture sketch and then dive into making hundreds of small parts that later get assembled into a larger work. I also take a small travel sewing kit and smaller pieces in my purse, and catch a few minutes sewing here and there at restaurants, waiting rooms, etc. I assemble all the parts together at home in my studio.
PP: Do you ever work collaboratively and how so? Why or why not?
KB: Yes. I am a member of a performance art band called “Glitter Chariot”. I am not a trained musician, so it is an interesting challenge for me. I especially love contributing to making the costumes. Members of the band were my former students and my former professor. I think that this has helped me think differently about teaching. I try not to think about a hierarchy in the classroom and instead think of it more like a group of artists collaborating.
Crawling Skin, yarn, organza, glitter, beads, plastic found objects, and faux fur on canvas, 8 feet x 4 feet x 10 inches, 2022
PP: Who is a current muse for your practice? Could be anyone fictional or real, dead or alive!
KB: My cat Sparkles is definitely my muse! I am currently making a sphinx that is a hybrid of Sparkles and me. I have been looking at a lot of Leonor Fini for inspiration. I was kind of late discovering her work, so it seems new and exciting for me.
PP: What is your favorite medium and why?
KB: Yarn is my favorite medium. When people think of yarn, it might remind them of their grandmother and crochet. In my work, yarn lends itself perfectly to making something that looks like intestines and gore. I think it’s fun to play with people’s expectations in this way.
To learn more about Kelly’s work, see her Instagram and Website