Lucas Kelly

As a Philadelphia commercial and editorial photographer who also maintains a fine arts practice, I make a point to keep current with the art world.  I am photographing an on-going portrait and documentary project with artists in their studio spaces.

While many are visual artists, I also pull in others from differing creative fields – musicians, wood-workers, writers, tailors, etc.  The project is rooted in portraiture.  However, I’m equally as interested in profiling and documenting the artistic and tactile processes behind the work.  In addition to portraiture, I photograph the artist working.  This can either be in the studio if their practice is studio-based, or on location if their work requires it.

This is Lucas Kelly.  He has a studio space in the same artist community that I do.  I met him through CFEVA, a local arts organization that we both participate in.  He is a visual artist.  In his words –

“I produce work based on the inefficiency of memory’s ability to maintain narrative. My work aims to develop formal sensory triggers that precipitate nostalgic responses from the viewer, in an effort to develop narrative participation from the viewer. These formally ambiguous objects, which act as surrogates for lost entities in my personal experience, become tactile markers for memories which have broken down over time. Continually accessing memories, we continue to break down the proteins that help store their information. Like a jpeg that is averaged and deteriorates each time it is accessed, these scenes are averaged time after time and gaps are filled to create clarity. I am interested in this type of systematic failure, a beautiful disaster of sentimentality. Engaging that element of the human experience is an essential part of my practice. Keeping my objects formally ambiguous allows the viewer to engage on their own terms.”

-Matt