Kathryn D'Elia
AQ is our series of hardcover catalogs celebrating extraordinary women artists. Available on Amazon. Visit the AQ Catalog Webpage to learn more.
AQ Volume V artist Kathryn D’Elia is an award-winning oil painter and art educator from Jacksonville, Florida. She attended Flagler College for her BFA and the University of Washington for her MFA before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2016. D’Elia’s work examines real (and imagined) pressures of contemporary American life, using everyday subjects arranged in cinematic, humorous scenes. Her work is influenced by post-impressionism, surrealism, the Young British Artists, humor, and horror films. D’Elia’s recent paintings explore the experiences of fear and wonder, where they meet, and where they blend.
D’Elia’s work has been featured in the "2024 National Art Educators Association Juried Exhibition", “Collective Alchemy IV” at Burl Community Gallery, the “Funny Bone” Exhibition at Intersect Art Gallery, “Out with the New, In with the Old” exhibition at Arts Illiana Gallery, and she was an award recipient at the “Fantastical” Exhibition at South Haven Center for the Arts, and at the “49th Annual Northern Lights” Exhibition at White Bear Center for the Arts. D’Elia regularly shows her work nationally and is an art instructor and department chair at Perpich Center for Arts Education, in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
https://www.kdelia.com/
What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you decide to commit to this path?
I don’t have a distinctive moment where I chose to be an artist–it’s been a setting with no “off” switch. Being an artist has always been a part of how I see things, my sense of humor, and how I interact with the world, for better or worse. For me, it has more to do with disposition than how I use materials, or how many works I produce. I am lucky to have benefitted from arts education early on and consistently. Making art and talking about art is what I have always wanted to do. I’ve practiced other skills and tried other career paths. I am lucky now to be able to create work regularly and hold a career in arts education, where I have the privilege of supporting students who are just like I was.
Could you share the story or concept behind your recent work?
My recent work critically examines the pressures (both real and imagined) of contemporary American life. Every piece is born out of frustration, a concern, or a confusing observation. I use familiar or nostalgic objects to explore these themes via metaphor. I consider what these items mean to us, re-assign their uses, shift contexts, and force them to behave in unexpected ways, to interrogate reality so we can take a deeper look at it. Painting decisions are made to entice the viewer and invite multiple readings of the work.
What was the most challenging part of your path so far? How are you navigating this obstacle?
The path of an artist is complicated and nuanced. Coming to terms with how uncharted things can be for artists, and how insecure it can feel, has required a lot of adjustment. You don’t always get the life-changing call from a gallery or collector when you hope (or need) it to turn up. Sometimes the person that you hope will take an interest in your work doesn’t. Likewise, some sales and acceptance letters pop up randomly, providing an unexpected lift. Recently, I’ve taken more opportunities into my own hands, instead of waiting for them to come to me. I didn’t always feel like I had the mental bandwidth or the body of work I needed to take the next important steps–propose a solo show, sign up for an art festival, document and create prints for sale, write a grant, etc. In the past few years, I’ve made a new body of work and have started to figure out these options one at a time, mostly by asking questions of other artists, harnessing my community, and taking the plunge on things that I would have found intimidating in the past.
What role does experimentation and exploration play in your artistic practice?
My work is playful–it likes to keep me guessing. Every painting has its route to creation. Sometimes things fall into place quickly in alignment with the original idea. Other times, while in process, the painting will demand a change, and I stay flexible to new solutions. When I'm not actively painting, I spend a lot of time looking at images of the painting. A lot of shifts have been determined by experimenting with the mark-up tool over images, or letting the painting rest until I can best decide where it needs to go next. I make an effort to try new color schemes, compositions, paint applications, and subjects to keep myself engaged in the process.
Do you have any start or stop rituals before creating?
No, not really. I scrape my glass palette clean at the start of a session so I have a large area of fresh mixing space, a clean slate. When I’m working on a new painting, there isn’t a stop time. I might have put the brush down for the night, but I’ll still be mentally working on that painting and planning for it when I’m on the couch later on–and the next day when I wake up–off and on in spurts a few days at a time until the piece is complete.
What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?
I hope my work encourages people to question why things are the way they are. Sometimes I want to explore that negatively: “Why are we okay with this? Why do we let these things happen? Can we change it?” And sometimes I want people to question the things they appreciate, and why. My themes can come off as dark, but I also hope that people find the work funny. I think the only way we’re getting through the struggle of being alive in this time is if we can hold onto the things that give us joy, and be brave enough to think critically about the current we’re floating in.
Share a mantra or favorite quote that keeps you going.
When I need to “kill a darling” for the betterment of the whole painting, I remember, “If you’ve done it once, you can do it again, and probably better.” I say this pretty frequently to my students, as well. It helps me focus on future possibilities and confidence in my skills instead of worrying about the loss or the perceived waste of effort. All those previous moves contributed, and they can be created again.
