Brenda Kelly - Artist Statement

I am an artist living and creating in Cochrane, Alberta. I completed my Bachelor of Fine Art at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario majoring in painting and printmaking. Today, I create altered realities by combining photography, painting, printmaking and mixed media into digital collages. Each piece tells a story and sparks intrigue for the viewer. That curiosity could be generated through the subject matter, techniques used or the juxtaposition of images in the piece.

I generally work on specific projects or explore a particular theme.  One of these projects will be featured in the Canmore Art Guild’s February 2025 Photography show. It was inspired by a multi-verse poem I wrote called “Winter Wassails”. A total of five images were created in response to a verse in the poem. Each of these images originated as a single photograph. As with much of my work, I return to the digital studio and assemble the final collages from these files. By adding additional photos, paint, layers and filters or text, I try to capture a dreamlike reality that merges the stark world of winter with a reordered reality. I chose to print these transformations only in B&W to invoke that feeling of murky predawn dreamscapes. The intent is for the viewer to be able to better relate to the inspiration poetry for each image, the story behind the piece and step into those wintery surreal landscapes.