Chloe Rippe
Arts, Entertainment, and Technology Editor
On Friday October, 18th, a table full of observing high school artists witnessed Sculptor Kelsey Duncan mold a life sized arm out of red clay. He had previously demoed a model bust, also life sized and created just that morning. “I demo like every day, several times a day for classes, and sometimes they end up being finished halfway through, so you get see the process at mid point,” he said. “I do it for the long term happiness.”
Kelsey attended the University of Montana, where he received a Bachelors of Fine Art. He now has a residency in Port chester, New York at the Clay Arts Center, where he teaches classes on sculpting and portrait.
Students of Art Teacher Ms. Floryshak-Windman’s classes were able to observe Kelsey’s artistic process in action. “I’m just developing the face, It’s funny, there are so many subtleties,” he said. “There are no universal features that apply to the sexes, that’s the hardest thing in separating and defining.”
Students were also given the opportunity to ask Kelsey questions about his sculpting techniques, and about his life as a professional artist.
When you glaze, do you just use one color?
“I use different tones and yellows and browns, I never do just like the whole thing one color, it’s too flat. The nice thing about glazes is that they inherently have depth…I used to do yellow, like really bright ridiculous colors. It was just incredibly emotive, very stylized.”
What is important to consider when submitting pieces to calls for entries?
“If you submit images, your images have to be awesome, so take the extra time, spend extra money on good images. That’s all you got in the end, if you have a good picture, the piece sells.”
Why didn’t you go to specifically an art school?
“A lot of art schools aren’t really focused on ceramics, and if they are, they’re really just interested in the idea that they can accomplish out of ceramics, but the technical stuff they really just don’t know…Some are more focused on the commercial approach, I think that the totally relevant thing to be interested in, and you get a lot of great schools in New York to go to, is commercial design. I don’t really make the kind of work that you would market.”
Do people buy your artwork?
“Sometimes, I just sold some stuff in Indiana, the smaller pieces sell, but the bigger stuff not really because they’re too expensive and huge, and how do you put that in your house? But i enjoy making the work, if i don’t enjoy it I’m going to quit, if i enjoy it i might as well stick with it.”
Do you think that aspiring artists who aren’t interested in commercial forms of art can find job opportunities?
“I’m not gonna lie to you, you really have to want it bad and then you get it. But if you want like a normal nine to five schedule, do something else. There are people doing it, and it’s an amazing career. I teach and I make work and I pay the bills and its okay, like nobody is rich but it’s alright.”
