About
Kelsey Gulley is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. Her work is provocative, raw, and oftentimes profane. Focusing her creations on feminist analysis and defining and depicting the expansiveness of womanhood, she fuses the aesthetics of traditional femininity with the gruesome and macabre that hides underneath all of the frilly pink. She sets out to critique what it means to be a woman, dichotomizing the constricting softness that is typically used to portray girls, with the vulgarity and violence that lies within the female experience. What comes out is a vulnerable, tender display of the darkest parts of her psyche. She bravely ventures into her own mind, into some of the caves many have never dared to enter. And not only does she enter them, but she scrapes the walls for everything inside. Through her art, she is figuratively ripping her insides out and showing you all that is in there, from the blood and guts to the rich colours this exorcizing ritual paints her. Exploring the worlds of visual art, poetry, and fashion, she has created an aesthetic world that is singular. Her visual elements include that of body horror, flesh, erotica, childhood innocence and bubblegum pink to depict her haunting yet romantic and sensual perspective. Her practice becomes not only cultural critique, but confessional, honest, and emotionally raw. Whether writing poetry or essays, creating found object collage or installation, or creating with fabric on the human form, she strives to tell truthful stories that keep her and all of the women who came before her alive. In many ways, it keeps everyone who interacts with her work alive too.
She is a self published author after releasing her first collection of poetry and prose, titled Pretty Girl Corpse, and had her first solo exhibition titled “The Altar” showcasing written word and installation art. Pretty Girl Corpse is a vulgar and violent celebration of womanhood, rejoicing in rage, romance, grief and all of the sweet stickiness in between. It sets out to become the bible on how the most beautiful parts of life are also the bloodiest. The accompanying exhibition created a visual representation of this thesis, featuring “Bathroom Floor”, an installation of found object collage over a bathroom sink and toilet, “The Altar”, a found object shrine to womanhood and how it is informed by the oppressive systems that surround us, and “I Am a Woman Now” the centerpiece that contained a depiction of a teenage girls bedroom paired with a solitary blood stained mattress.
She has created a world that is distinctly Uglley. Uglley, her fashion label, derived from a play on her last name, has become an extension of her creative universe. Taking from her work in writing, her clothing scribes provoking and confessional language such as “I wish you were dead” and “I love you like violence” across the chest of its wearer. Kelsey believes that expression begins with the body. As much of her practice is rooted in the grotesquerie of the human experience, she is able to translate her tales of agony, desire, and tenderness into her clothing designs. Not just fashion, her pieces are intended to provoke feeling and affronting discomfort in the onlooker, and unbridled confidence and catharsis in the wearer. Kelsey studied fashion arts, and is technically trained in fashion design and creation. Her next venture will be to create and release a runway collection, titled “ALL MY BODY REMEMBERS OF YOU IS THE BLOOD” next fall.
She has created a world that is distinctly Uglley. Uglley, her fashion label, derived from a play on her last name, has become an extension of her creative universe. Taking from her work in writing, her clothing scribes provoking and confessional language such as “I wish you were dead” and “I love you like violence” across the chest of its wearer. Kelsey believes that expression begins with the body. As much of her practice is rooted in the grotesquerie of the human experience, she is able to translate her tales of agony, desire, and tenderness into her clothing designs. Not just fashion, her pieces are intended to provoke feeling and affronting discomfort in the onlooker, and unbridled confidence and catharsis in the wearer. Kelsey studied fashion arts, and is technically trained in fashion design and creation. Her next venture will be to create and release a runway collection, titled “ALL MY BODY REMEMBERS OF YOU IS THE BLOOD” next fall.
