Finding Homes For Figurative Work | Kelsey Bowen | Episode 784

Kelsey Bowen | Episode 784

Kelsey Bowan received her BFA in Ceramics from the California College of the Arts, going on to continue creating work as a Long-term artist in residence at the Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana. Kelsey is currently working as a professional artist and part-time educator in Montana.

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How much do galleries play a role in your world for finding customers?

So that’s an interesting question. I think it’s a decent role. I think a collector base has been really important. I think there is a lot of weight behind a person, place, a gallery, that you trust saying this art is good art. So there’s a lot of people, I think, that would purchase some thing based on that idea that you have a gallery kind of backing you. Especially when you are starting out, so my work is really new and I think that’s really important. An underrated guy in your corner is social media. Social media has been pretty big for me too.

Do you ever share your work through gift shops?

I did when I was starting out. The first places I showed at were really small kind of boutique style, kind of gallery gift shop type places. But now it’s galleries mostly because of price point. I do do Etsy occasionally for my smaller…I’ve been doing drawings on clay and that fits well with Etsy.

Is there a difference in perception of quality and value when you look at something in a gallery versus a gift shop?

Interesting. I think personally what I would see as a line being drawn is craft versus fine art. Even hearing it come out of my mouth makes my hair stand up on end because that’s such an art school thing to bring up. But we talked about that so often. When does craft become fine art? When does fine art become craft? I think craft is something that maybe you would see…a gift shop is still kind of like a gallery. It’s a place where people are coming, they are seeing your work backed by somebody that collects and shows work. So even a gift shop has that same power. But I guess a gallery, the ones I’ve been working with and the one’s I’ve been learning about, they seem to have the higher price point. It’s all perception, like you said. Your perception of your worth is so crucial because if you are not excited, they are not excited. So it’s that enthusiasm that we share with people that might make them more excited and more interested in our work.

Between social media and galleries which is the stronger point of traffic for you, when things go out of the studio and into the world?

That’s a tricky question because social media only works if you are very aggressive. Aggressive in the kindest way to say it. Where you are just active. You are very active, you are posting, you are sharing, you are constantly on there, commenting on other people, you are responding to messages. It’s getting out in the world because they get to see parts of you that they don’t get to see when people shop in the galleries. The gallery will get background on you and they will learn a little bit about you as a person and as an artist and based on the information that the gallery has and the gallery has an audience that wouldn’t necessarily follow you on social media. So you are being exposed to people that enjoy that space and enjoy what they curate but maybe don’t have social media or don’t necessarily follow people making rabbit-headed children.

If you could choose anyone to narrate your life, past or present, to narrate your life, who would it be?

Oh, it’s tough! (laughter) Well I’m going to cheat and I’m going to say that just based on this experience and your voice as a host on the radio, I would invite you to narrate my life.

Oh my gosh, I just turned red. (laughter)

No pressure. (laughter)