Letha A Kelsey

MFA University of Wisconsin-Madison

BFA Minnesota State University

Letha Kelsey’s research involves close examination of the everyday—observations of immediate surroundings, rooted in the elements, materials and actions of our daily lives. Kelsey grew up on a small family farm in Iowa, an experience that resonates in her observations of the Midwestern landscape and its sensory phenomena—its light, moisture, sound, aroma.  She uses everyday forms as subject matter for her abstractions, distilling and translating sensory experiences through a visual language that is delicate, complex and inventive. Kelsey’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions regionally and nationally, including the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art; Samson Projects, Boston; Gallery 19, Chicago; the Berkeley Art Center. Her work has been twice selected for solo shows at the James Watrous Gallery, Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Science and Letters. She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center in 2003 and received a University of Wisconsin System Summer Research Grant in 2010.  Kelsey earned her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Minnesota State University and MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, she serves as Professor in the Department of Performing and Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin-Platteville.