Kelly kristin jones
Kelly Kristin Jones uses the camera to examine contested city-space across the US. Her sculptural photographs carry the scars, seams, and digital residue of efforts to remove, reinterpret, and restore both public landscape and narrative. Jones earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and served as a Post-MFA Faculty Photography Fellow at the University of Georgia. She is currently a Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH resident.
What neighborhood do you live in? Can you tell us about it?
I was born and grew up in North Lawndale – on the westside of Chicago. After spending 6 years living and working in Atlanta, GA, I’m so happy to be back in Chicago and living in Logan Square.
Does your art reflect your neighborhood or does your neighborhood otherwise inspire you?
This is so chicken-and-the-egg for me! It’s hard to separate what comes first in the process. My neighborhood and city are deeply connected to my photographic pursuits and how I think about my practice. Each time I walk to the corner store, bike the Boulevards, or hop onto the Blue Line, my practice is given room to shift and I’m newly inspired.
When did you start creating?
One of my earliest memories is of my mother complimenting me on NOT coloring inside of the lines of my coloring book (I have a very cool Mom). I think that I’ve always looked for ways to create and co-create. However, I wasn’t sure that I would pursue a creative career until I entered graduate school at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was there – surrounded by both an inspired urban landscape and community of makers – that I gained the confidence to pursue art full time.
Where do you work in the city—where is your studio, if applicable?
All of my work is made in and about city space. I look for urban sites in flux or under threat and create works to elucidate narratives therein. While I create landscape photographs out-of-doors and all over the city, my studio space is in East Garfield Park.
How does the city impact you personally and artistically?
I grew up in Chicago and the city has always been the backdrop to my story – both personal and professional. In my art practice I use photographic imagery to encourage essential considerations: about the ties between symbols and systems, the links between the present and the past, the differences in how communities experience our built environment, and what stories we remember.
How would you describe your subject matter and your aesthetic?
I’m interested in using photographic imagery to inspire new exchanges with our city space and new considerations of “our” story. I attend to the urban landscape with my camera in a variety of ways to address the slipperiness of both medium and metropolis. These “straight” photographs make use of the medium’s inherent ability to flatten space and distort perspective and testify to the power that a place - a building – can hold.
Peachtree Place V, Archival pigment print // 54” x 37”
Can you describe your artistic practice?
I make “straight” photographs of the urban landscape to upend traditional expectations of both medium and site.
Who or what inspires or influences you today?
I am deeply influenced by artists who are actively creating space for new stories: Amanda Williams, Deana Lawson, Kerry James Marshall, Carmen Winant, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya. I’ve also been inspired by New York Times’ ongoing “Overlooked” series where new obituaries for women who’ve been previously ignored or undervalued are published.
How do you describe Chicagoans character? Is there a Chicago work ethic and if so, how does that apply to the art world in Chicago?
I’ve found that Chicago’s generosity and industriousness are best revealed on snow days: neighbors help shovel one another out, strangers offer extra mittens, and everyone goes out of their way to ensure those around them are okay. This is certainly mirrored in the art world… and not just on snow days. Artists, curators, and historians really do band together to support one another’s personal and professional lives.
When creating, do you create in silence or do you have music to motivate you? If so, what do you like to listen to?
I tend to work in silence. The ambient sounds in my studio (the crinkling of paper, tinkling of photo equipment, and the buzz of my scanner) are the perfect backdrop for my creative activity.
What does creating do for you personally?
It keeps me optimistic.