Amelia Key // Matter Matters

ArtWorks is thrilled to announce our second visiting artist in residence, Amelia Key. Key led eight teen and young adult Artists as they explored a range of sculptural solutions that transform and elevate the mundane objects that pervade our daily life, creating a dialogue about plastic, waste, the environment, and the relationship between materials and concept. They gained experience showcasing their finished pieces in an exhibition at the ArtWorks V² Gallery in the summer and have the opportunity to speak publicly about their work.

Opening Reception: Friday, July 28, 5–7 p.m., ArtWorks V2 Gallery, 929 E McMillan St, Cincinnati, OH 45206

 

Artist Statement from Amelia Key
My work explores themes of transformation, potential, and wonder. I’m interested in the variety of chaotic and ordered levels on this ever-sliding scale, the human desire for control, the longing for resolution, and the tendency to overcomplicate situations within our own thought patterns. In my search to make sense of the world around me, and perhaps in searching for my own place of belonging, I find myself sorting out connections and relationships between similar and dissimilar objects- literal connections, aesthetic connections, relationships between micro and macro scale, or placement of dissimilar objects together. Inspired by the plethora of plastic objects available at a whim, I purchase, collect, and find materials wherever I go. Through this process of collecting, I imbue typically disposable objects with a sense of preciousness. These items are chosen for their bright colors, plasticity, shape, and texture, which I then alter and re-purpose to create new forms. Familiar objects become three-dimensional methods of mark-making or painting in space. Through color exploration and repetition, these objects transcend their purpose, ultimately turning the mundane into the magical.

Artist Bio
Originally from Dothan, Alabama, Amelia Key received her B.A. in Art from Belhaven University in 2011. After graduation, she worked at a fine craft gallery and a stained-glass studio in Jackson, Mississippi, while exhibiting her work regionally in the Southeast including the 56 th Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts) in Little Rock, the 2018 Wiregrass Biennial at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in Dothan, and the 2019 Mississippi Invitational at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. Amelia’s work has taken her steadily west as she began her graduate studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christ in 2020 which led to opportunities including receiving a TAMU-CC Sage Fellowship, being selected as one of the the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance 2022 Dianne Komminsk Scholarship recipients, and creating a public art installation featuring 16 suspended sculptures for the TAMU-CC Performing Arts Center. While she continues to explore the potential of everyday materials and site-responsive installations, Amelia is now preparing to complete her MFA at the University of Oklahoma in 2023. More of Amelia’s artwork can be found on her website http://www.ameliakey.com and Instagram @amelia.c.key, as well as in the @all.she.makes worldwide directory