Kelly Knowles
What are your earliest memories of being artistic? My earliest artistic memories are of drawing as a kid. I remember drawing with chalk on the driveway until the pieces got so small I scraped my fingers on the pavement.
What role do you think the artist plays in society? What fascinates me about art is that nothing is truely original, everything is a rehash of a remix. That makes art a sort of window into the “hive mind” of the human race, a finger on the pulse of something that’s hard to quantify.
“That which the body creates is as much an expression of DNA as the body itself.” And we’ve all heard the saying that all art is in some way a self portrait. Creating art is a way to know ourselves, both as individuals and as a society.
Nueromancer: Case, Digital
What medium do you currently work in and how did you choose this medium? I’ve always worked primarily in digital, because it is far too powerful a tool to resist.
I used to focus on photomanipulation, as it was the easiest way to create photorealistic art. But it only served as a crutch, and gathering/creating assets was incredibly time consuming. I also realized photorealism isn’t even the type of art that excites me, it has always been the heavily stylized drawings that stuck with me.
For the past few years I’ve been working on developing my own illustration style, while using some of the Photoshop tricks I learned when I was photo-manipulating. It’s a little bit of mixed media, but primarily digital illustration.
Edge of the Map, Digital
How do you choose your subject matter? Is there a reoccurring theme that carries throughout your work? Fantasy and surrealism play a big part in my work. I get a lot of inspiration from movies, video games, and strange dreams. Its not about escape, its that I love experiencing the world so much that reality (and sobriety) just isn’t enough. Exploring dreamscapes and different states of consciousness is my way of better understanding myself and the world around me.
The Alchemist, Digital
What living artists are you inspired by? Josan Gonzalez, Barnaby Ward, Lucian Stanculescu, Roger Dean, Nick Thornborrow
See More Kelly!
Website: www.kellyknowles.art
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