COLLECTION NAME:
Art and Art History Student Work
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHi~6~6
Art and Art History Student Work
Collection
true
Image File Name:
vrc_20201006_010
image_file_name
vrc_20201006_010
Image File Name
false
Image Record ID:
aahi0021718
image_record_id
aahi0021718
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Fight Scene
Image Title:
full view
Work Description:
Artist statement: Less Than Nothing is a collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures created
over a period of several years selected to document the development of my thinking regarding the nature of reality and human experience. // I was a math major before switching to painting, and ideas I ran into in math and physics have influenced my work as an artist. I believe there’s an inevitable suffering created by the state of human existence, because we have an egoic consciousness that creates a false sense of separation from a monist universe that is already conscious. The title Less than Nothing refers to the state of the ego as a tragic non-thing perpetually hallucinating its own existence. // The figures with bags on their heads are one way of approaching these ideas. The figures lose the individuality of their faces and their bodies begin to merge into larger conglomerate forms. With these I’m trying to explore the tension between individual and collective consciousness. // Still life has been an important idiom for me for years. I use objects as a microcosm for the whole universe: as the occult saying goes, “as above, so below.” I’m interested in how people and objects instantiate each other via their interactions. I’ve chosen examples from different periods of my experimentation with still life. I’ve become intrigued with the relationship between painting and drawing and how these modes of representation can be used to depict the experience of interacting with objects. For me painting is usually a slow and laborious process; when I draw I like to exploit the speed and irrevocability of materials like pastels and ink. My most recent still life paintings are experiments with combining these two approaches into a single image.
over a period of several years selected to document the development of my thinking regarding the nature of reality and human experience. // I was a math major before switching to painting, and ideas I ran into in math and physics have influenced my work as an artist. I believe there’s an inevitable suffering created by the state of human existence, because we have an egoic consciousness that creates a false sense of separation from a monist universe that is already conscious. The title Less than Nothing refers to the state of the ego as a tragic non-thing perpetually hallucinating its own existence. // The figures with bags on their heads are one way of approaching these ideas. The figures lose the individuality of their faces and their bodies begin to merge into larger conglomerate forms. With these I’m trying to explore the tension between individual and collective consciousness. // Still life has been an important idiom for me for years. I use objects as a microcosm for the whole universe: as the occult saying goes, “as above, so below.” I’m interested in how people and objects instantiate each other via their interactions. I’ve chosen examples from different periods of my experimentation with still life. I’ve become intrigued with the relationship between painting and drawing and how these modes of representation can be used to depict the experience of interacting with objects. For me painting is usually a slow and laborious process; when I draw I like to exploit the speed and irrevocability of materials like pastels and ink. My most recent still life paintings are experiments with combining these two approaches into a single image.
Work Dates (display):
2018
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Kaelen Williams (American, born 1991)
Work Creator notes (display):
Thesis not found on file (last checked: 02/22/2024)
Work Creator UCB affiliation (display):
BFA 2018, Art and Art History
Work Subject:
humanity
subject
humanity
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
reality
subject
reality
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
consciousness
subject
consciousness
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
existential phenomenology
subject
existential phenomenology
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
ego (psychology)
subject
ego (psychology)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
body, human
subject
body, human
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
painting (image-making)
subject
painting (image-making)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
drawing (image-making)
subject
drawing (image-making)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
Social interaction
subject
Social interaction
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
homogeneity
subject
homogeneity
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Worktype:
oil paintings
work_type
oil paintings
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Material and Technique (display):
oil on canvas
Work Measurements (display):
48 in (H) x 78 in (W)
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
University of Colorado Art Museum
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
exhibition
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Boulder, Colorado
Image Rights (display):
© Kaelen Williams
Work Rights (display):
© Kaelen Williams
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Holding Institution:
University of Colorado Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Subcollection:
Art and Art History Student Work Archive
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see . For specific questions, suggestions, or corrections about the descriptive information for images, contact aahvrc@colorado.edu. Please include the image file name.