Katherine Kesey: Autofiction
MFA Thesis Exhibition
Opening Reception February 9, 2023 from 6–9 p.m.
Master of Fine Arts candidate Katherine Kesey is pleased to announce her solo thesis exhibition, Autofiction. Held in the Bolsky Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design, the exhibition marks the culmination of two years in the Otis Fine Arts program as well as Kesey’s emergence into the Los Angeles art scene.
The exhibition title, Autofiction, comes from the literary genre of the same name. While autobiography’s documentation of fact and fiction’s reliance on fabrication are traditionally seen as mutually exclusive, autofiction allows its author to utilize both narrative forms to better understand their perception, experience and sense of self. In the same way, Kesey’s large-scale oil paintings and mixed-media collages interrogate her own experience, presenting true events with a sense of subjectivity. Autofiction shows its viewer an intimate portrait of the artist’s mind, and explores the line between realism and imagination.
The exhibition runs February 6 through February 10, 2023 with a public reception on February 9 from 6–9 p.m. Food and drinks will be provided during the reception.
The Helen and Abraham Bolsky Gallery is located on the first floor of the Galef Center for Fine Arts at Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045. Visitor parking is available on the first floor of the Parking Garage. Street parking is available on La Tijera Blvd. and Loyola Blvd.
Social Media:
@katherinekesey
About Katherine Kesey:
Katherine Kesey is an oil painter, mixed media artist and writer based in Los Angeles, California. Kesey holds a degree in Graphic Communications from Clemson University, has studied at the American University of Paris and is finishing her Master’s in Fine Art at Otis College of Art and Design. Kesey’s work is made from compiling ordinary objects and scenes into collage-like compositions. Working representationally and often using her own photography as reference, Kesey never simply replicates images just as they are. Instead, through a process of cut-and-paste, freely manipulating color, scale, detail and perspective, Kesey utilizes fragmentation, gathers unrelated source images and works intuitively. Kesey’s paintings hold tension between realism and randomly associated, self-fabricated, stream of conscious inspection. Her work interrogates phenomenology, psychology and the science of meaning, by exercising power as a narrator and autonomously directing composition and object rendering.
About Otis College of Art and Design:
Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide variety of visual and applied arts, media, and design. Core programs in liberal arts, business practices, and community-driven projects support the College’s mission to prepare diverse students to enrich our world through their creativity, skill, and vision.
As Los Angeles’ first professional art school, visionary alumni and faculty include MacArthur and Guggenheim grant recipients, Oscar awardees, and design stars at Apple, Anthropologie, Pixar, Mattel and more. The renowned Creative Action program has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for Community Engagement, and the Otis Report on the Creative Economy is a powerful advocacy tool for creative industries. The College serves the Greater Los Angeles Area through compelling public programming, as well as year-round Continuing Education courses for all ages.
