For those of you art enthusiasts who are going to be in Manhattan next week on June 30th, join us at this super sweet art show for an evening of good vibes and incredible artwork. A group of artists welcomes you all to experience the #Conception, in TriBeCa, showcasing modern and contemporary art. Keli Lucas is showcasing her newest series of portraits series of creative peers and loved ones at #Conception and she is stoked to see you all there!!
Artist Keli Lucas has been selected to exhibit her work at Conception Global Collective, a contemporary art show highlighting emerging artists. Come and celebrate this accomplishment and view Keli’s collection of work. With Conception Art Fair’s innovative curation, they hope to expose, educate, and provide guidance to novice and seasoned collectors alike. Their goal is to provide the highest quality of art and culture to the public, that they normally would not have access to. I had the chance to conduct an exciting interview with Keli the other day and you can read the transcript of it below:
Why do you do it/what is your motivation? Or describe your source(s) of inspiration.
I would say my motivation is life from the eyes of others. Empathy if you will of other people’s emotions. I like to expose a feeling behind the eyes / the soul and emotion in a person’s face, and freeze it in time. I don’t just try to make an appealing image, I search for something in a person’s face that people can see and feel and relate to. Something that makes people think and want to analyze the image and then look within themselves. It’s intriguing to me to get to explore that whilst painting a person’s face. Without that, it feels blank to me and uninteresting. So my motivation would definitely be exploring peoples’ minds through their facial expression while in front of me. Life is really intriguing to me when I meet people with depth so being able to capture that is always a fun challenge.
What are the biggest challenges you face doing your art as a career?
My challenge I think would definitely be staying true to myself. As a creative, when there are expectations and goals that should be met to be successful and balancing that with making time to create something I do for myself that keeps me sane. As a female creative there are definitely more challenges. It’s harder to get looked at in the art world seriously. Although, I think our generation is really changing things and it is becoming the norm now to be respected as a female who is working on her career more than anything else.
Who is your favorite artist or fashion designer that you look up to or try to emulate?
Wow, it’s hard! There are so many, I’m going to try to sum it up. Frida Kahlo I definitely have to say as a feminist and rad human being. Her artwork really exposed everything she’s ever gone through, filled with such personality and though self-defeating, really confident and strong. I definitely think De Kooning inspired my love for painterly expression. His free brush strokes and vibrant colors always intrigued me.
What are you working on right now that you’re most excited about?
Currently, I’m building a series of strictly portraits that I’ll be showcasing at Conception Art Fair, RAW Art Fair and some auctions this summer. Some conceptually realistic, with free, painterly and energetic brush-strokes, and some more abstract. Once again, going back to my fascination with emotion and the soul. It’s just my favorite subject to explore, it never gets old to me.
What is art to you?
Art to me is expression with creativity, which is multifaceted. To me, I feel that it’s the most important thing that exists. As a creator, you bring things into existence, birth things into existence. Whatever anyone creates, a photo, food, skyscraper, whatever didn’t exist before that someone decided to make from nothing or other things. It’s an art. As creators, what people forget to realize, is that we hold a godly factor inside of us. Spiritually and physically, we manifest things that start off as a thought and bring it into existence. That is just the coolest thing to me. Knowing this, life seems so amazing! There are no limits. Whatever one feels, one can make something with that. To be called an Artist just means that you choose to share your creations with the public. Although everyone is a creator.
The subject of Art that people critique and study is so important as well because each piece says so much… About life, the subject, setting, era in time etc. Artists sometimes can be considered philosophers as well with the amount of exploration that is involved in their work. So what is art to me? It’s the creative expression of ones life experiences, lessons, relationships and more. I love that it’s literally someone’s sub-conscience being exposed to the public that others can learn and get inspired from. It’s so beautiful.
What creative medium do you wish to pursue that you haven’t yet?
Anything and everything! I love to explore whatever is around me. I’ve been playing around with liquid glass for a while as well as some wood and plaster. I have a love affair with painting though. I just love the texture and playing with color combinations. I feel like a scientist sometimes when I mix different types of paint together (like acrylic with oil and liquid-glass). But yeah, whatever the next mediums are that come my way, man. Let’s see! That’s what’s fun about art. You never know until you start..
The Conception Contemporary Art Show is next Thursday on June 30th. Tickets are $20 in advance. Join us to celebrate new work by acclaimed artists of an eclectic curation of artwork and performance.Come and support the arts! Order tickets now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-york-city-tickets-25385619070?aff=OUYBJHpzGL
And check out the artists’ work:
Keli Lucas: https://www.facebook.com/events/1709583635974852/
Erica Rachel : https://www.facebook.com/events/626651000834518/
Bianca Romero: https://www.facebook.com/events/1381413838541143/
Marty Morella: https://www.facebook.com/events/293350501006633/
Follow @Kelilucas and @WarningArts on Instagram and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/warningarts/?fref=ts