ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a multimedia artist and painter, currently focused on creating dynamic, wool-based works through the ancient fiber art technique of wool felting. My intention is to compel the mind and enliven the spirit with pieces serving as meditations on nature or uncommon locations while supporting planet health and constructive mindsets. 

“The textural superiority and versatility of wool, the tension or flow one can create with it, and the sustainability of it captivate me. I use a process that predates weaving called wool (or wet) felting. It requires only wool, soap, water, and rigorous handwork. I blend the wool with recycled silk and cotton, to build sculptural features, finishing the pieces with needle-felted detail. Often, I integrate elements such as basketry or found artifacts, forming assemblages magnifying the moods or movements I hope to convey in portraying that location or moment in time.”

BIOGRAPHY
Kim Keelor, a multimedia visual artist, is largely self-taught over a lifetime lived in the southeastern U.S. Her studio is located at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center in Franklin. She grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and has lived and worked in Charleston, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Tampa, Florida.  

Painting in watercolor and oil, for much of her life, Keelor's practice became more intentional beginning in 2018, with cultivation in multiple mediums from instructors at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Taos Art School, Redux Art Center, Gibbes Museum of Art, and Southeastern Fiber Fair. In 2022, she completed an artist residency with the Working Artist Studio Provisions of Scotland on the Isle of Skye, marking the transition from her careers as journalist and communications strategist, to full time artist. Keelor worked as a news reporter and anchor, and in strategic communications for more than 30 years. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Western Kentucky University and an M.S. in Leadership Studies from The Citadel. 

 

Keelor began showing her work in 2020 with pieces selected for more than 16 juried competitions in locations including North and South Carolina, Savannah and Dunwoody, Georgia, and San Francisco, resulting in several awards. Additionally, Keelor’s work is or has been exhibited in the Middleton Place Museum Shop, Charleston Preservation Society Shop, Charleston Artist Guild Gallery, Anderson Arts Center, and Blue Ridge Arts Center in South Carolina; the Cowee School Mercantile, the Page-Walker Arts and History Center, and the Uptown Gallery in North Carolina, and CorkHouse Gallery, in Savannah, Georgia.
 

 Keelor’s online gallery is CarolinaArtworks.com.