STATEMENT

Andamento is the ordered, rule-guided arrangement of lines that has provided the interpretive structure to mosaic designs since ancient times. In my current work andamento is a stand-in for deeply-anchored structures of belief and tradition that underpin our values and behaviors, for better or worse in terms of our connection to and division from one another. My forceful defacement of the materials that form the andamento lines to expose the underlying porous clay or stone body represents the daylighting of cultural traditions and habitual beliefs so that they may evolve and come to serve all rather than the few. The overdrawing on the exposed material body represents a superceding flow of awareness and action across long-structured lines, prioritizing connections of compassion and justice.

BIO

Seattle native studio artist Kelley Knickerbocker's background is exploratory and self-taught rather than formally artistic. After 25 years in admin at the University of Washington she moved art/craft from side hustle to full-time vocation in 2005 and never looked back. Her material-driven practice centers around experimentation, innovation, and conceptual expression, and that inventiveness garnered her the 2015 Innovation in Contemporary Mosaic award from the American Society of Mosaic Artists and the 2021New Horizons award from the Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand.

Kelley’s widely collected and exhibited work is committedly contemporary, and often intersects mixed media and assemblage, but is firmly rooted in mosaic principles and techniques that have been practiced for centuries.  

Kelley has been teaching in person since 2009, and has a 14 online courses available through mosaicartsonline.com. She’s a bit of an analytical process junkie, which makes it rather natural to be constantly assessing the steps of design and construction in a way that can be organized and passed on to students.

As often as she can, Kelley travels the world speaking, collaborating, participating in residencies/symposia, photographing odd insignificance, and teaching in-depth workshops on mosaic style and technique.