ARTIST STATEMENT
Every aspect of raising children is both/and. Motherhood is chaotic and still, it moves too quickly and too slowly, it is joy-filled and it is charged with grief. Lately, I’m drawn to painting moments from my life that feel held together by this unsayable tension — like the way that being a mother has made me feel both expanded as a human being and, simultaneously, erased. Caregiving necessitates a stepping back from the world, a degree of social invisibility. For mothers in particular, the transition to parenthood means a relinquishing of other selves. Still, mothering has, paradoxically, expanded my imagination and my sense of self-efficacy. Painting gives me a place to explore the aspects of mothering that feel too complicated, confusing, and tender to speak.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Megan Klco Kellner is a Michigan-based artist, poet, and educator who explores what it means to live consciously through images of her home and family. She holds an MFA in Painting from Kendall College of Art & Design and a BFA from Truman State University. Her paintings have been broadly exhibited nationally. She is currently a Visiting Professor of Painting at Grand Valley State University.
artist website
© Megan Klco Kellner