Biography

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Kelis George is an African American Interdisciplinary Artist and Emerging Curator with a focus in photographic mediums. She currently holds a BFA in Photography from Howard University. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, George’s upbringing and community cultivated her interests in image-making, art accessibilty and the stewardship of art and ephemera.

Her current artistic and curatorial practices explore themes of introspection and cultural constructs of community and faith within the African Dispora. She primarily works through self-portraiture, documentary photography and alternative photographic printing processes. She also works across disciplines including; painting; drawing; and sculpture, with the purpose of prioritizing experimentation, always allowing her narratives to inform her choice of medium.

Working in Brooklyn + Baltimore

kelisageorge@gmail.com
IG: @mynameiskelis

Artist Statement

Kelis George’s photographic practice is grounded in the reflections of self. Her work responds to the great emotions that fill her mind and body. Through self-portraiture, she explores introspection and self-critique. Much of her photography is ambivalent in nature, teetering the lines of satisfaction and pensiveness.

George’s views of self-portraiture are not always traditional. In addition to images of herself, she uses landscape, familial imagery and abstracted forms to represent her personhood. This is articulated through alternative photographic processes like collaged cyanotopes, lumen prints, and lamps, all of which are foundationally guided by light. She chooses to use these mediums because they are layered and rich in process, much like the mind.

Photography has always been a form of journaling for her. When she is overly concerned, she resorts to visual reflection as opposed to written. George also makes work that is empathetic towards those who reflect in similar ways and hopes that people seek and experience her work to find a sort of solace.