Kelly Cave is a working artist born and raised in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. She received her BFA from Syracuse University with a degree in Fiber and Material Studies, recently completed her MFA at the University of Cincinnati in sculpture, and is currently the Artist in Residence in sculpture at Northwest Missouri State University. She has attended residencies at Salem Art Works, Franconia Sculpture Park, and the Scottish Sculpture Workshop. These opportunities, in combination with her teaching experience, have been a catalyst for her interest in travel and desire to connect with people.
Artist Statement:
My practice contemplates the connections between repetitive art-making processes and meaningfulness in relation to the basic human need to find purpose–lodged within both rational ways of thinking and more philosophical concerns of existentialism. A repetitive act forms a tacit agreement between the body and mind, the conscious mind is no longer liable for basic motor functions as muscle memory allows the mind to wander. Through my research, I have learned that metal is like the human body–it breathes, bends, pushes, and breaks. An infallible industrial material, my ultimate partner, always steady and predictable yet subject to change, metal is eventually humbled through the inevitable oxidation process. My sculptures not only invite viewers into an intimate conversation with a powerful steel giant, but also allows the viewer a pause – a space of meditative breath in the flux of everyday existence.
Website: https://www.kellycave.com/
