KELSEY K. CONNER, AN ARTIST BASED IN INDIANAPOLIS
About
woven poems and memories
One of my earliest memories is by the back door within the kitchen of my childhood home. The memory appears fuzzy, a soft vignette around the edges of my recollection. You asked me if you should take your shoes off at the door. I told you no need, for we were just passing through. I remember feeling small, vulnerable- yet there was already an innate yearning for connection. Throughout my life, the distance between verbal and visual languages felt unbridgeable. My inability to express myself verbally leaves me struggling between allowing vulnerability and hiding all while craving relationships I often can not maintain. I find myself scribbling words, phrases, and poetry exploring my past and present relationships, struggles, and experiences. My sculptural forms and books extrapolate upon these written words, knitting phrases and themes into my work. My work utilizes a relationship between soft and hard natural materials, exploring the way remembrance and nostalgia alter and change throughout our life. The soft fibers explore the soft, ephemeral nature of memory- the materials will return to the earth and decompose, the same way our memories and experiences fade and change throughout our lives. The use of glass and metal explores the way in which nostalgia and memory distorts and selectively preserves fragments of personal experiences and relationships. Found objects pop up sparingly throughout my work- someone cared enough to make it, have it, and give it away- every object, both found and created in my work is a vessel for memory. They are manmade, just as memories are. The subtle connection between the three represents a concrete “center” of memory while the rest feels almost soft and fuzzy. When the work is first made, it will feel pristine- just like a memory- but as time passes, it will degrade, morph, and change. Our memories are an intimate, fallible proof of our existence.
There is freedom in allowing myself to be interpreted without fear, and an intimacy is creating art about people and places I will never speak to or in again. If you were ever to ask me again, if you should leave your shoes at the door, I would beg you,
Please-
Leave your shoes at the door.
BIOGRAPHY
Kelsey K. Conner is an emerging multi-media artist and curator in Indianapolis, IN. She specializes in paper, fibers, and installation. Kelsey is in her senior year at the Herron School of Art & Design, where she will earn her BFA in Sculpture in May of 2026. Kelsey earned her Book Arts Minor in May of 2025.
Kelsey was awarded as one of the top 100 students of IU Indianapolis in 2025, along with being nominated as an Outstanding Student Achievement Award in Contemporary Sculpture through the International Sculpture Center. She plans to pursue an MFA in Sculpture and become a professor.
EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
* denotes juried shows, ** denotes solo shows
2026, Please, Leave Your Shoes At the Door, Patina Gallery, Indianapolis, IN**
2025 Materiality in Sculpture: A Dialogue Between Substance and Form, The Evanston Center, Chicago Sculpture International, Chicago, IL*
2025 Malleability of Time and Space, An International Exchange, The Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Indiana-University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
2025 The Art of Protest, Parkside, Indianapolis, IN*
2025 Making Books Across the Big Pond, Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany*
2025 Making Books Across the Big Pond, Herron School of Arts & Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA*
2025 College Art Invitational 2025, The Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN*
2025 SPLINTER, A Student Exhibition, The Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Indianapolis, IN
2025 Inauguration Day, Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Best of You, Garfield Arts Center, Indianapolis, IN*
2024 Art & Sports Day Summer Fest, Ninety-Four Forty, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Big Gay Gallery, Mystery Fun Club, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Tarot: The Art of Fortune, The Washington Pavillion, The Schultz Gallery, Sioux Falls, SD*
2024 Fanzineiest Vienna Art Fair, Vienna, Austria*
2024 Herron Wearable Art Show, Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Indiana University-Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Waves, The Holy Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom*
2024 Expanding Print, Eskenazi Fine Art Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis IN
2024 Ninety-Nine Forty Magazine, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Connecting Distances: Virtual Global Exchange International Exhibition, Co-curator, Marsh Gallery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Art and Sports Day, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
2024 Femininity, Murphy Arts Center, Indianapolis, IN
2023 NASAD 10 Year Review, Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
2023 Indy Gay Market, The Amp @ 16 Tech, Indianapolis, IN*
2023 Touch Me: Art Beyond Sight, Eskenazi Fine Arts Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
2023 What’s The Commotion (It’s Stop Motion), The Amp @ 16 Tech, Indianapolis, IN
2022 Herron Winter Market, Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN