Kelly Crowe

I am a mixed media artist based in Toronto. Drawing on my experiences as a former journalist, my work in mixed media assemblage explores the nuances of decay and abandonment along with the solitary isolation of the creative process.  

Creating almost everything by hand, I construct, in miniature, mysterious places that tell a story in reverse—a story about what used to be and what might have happened on the inevitable journey toward entropy.

As I build my assemblages, I also explore the visual paradox of a contained space using vanishing points and reflections to create the illusion of an interior that is larger, even infinite, yet somehow confined within the boundaries of a three-dimensional box.

Much of my work is inspired by an attempt to reclaim and preserve the beauty of the analog world. My assemblages feature handmade miniature typewriters, telephones, televisions, pianos, and tiny books, along with found objects including vacuum tubes, and bits of cameras, pianos, and clocks. It’s my attempt to honour those elegant and ingenious machines, instruments and devices that have been eclipsed by the digital age– once essential objects consigned to the refuse bin, about to be lost to time.

I use a combination of methods in my work, including sculpture, metalworking, mold-making, acrylic, oil and watercolour painting, enamelling, bookbinding, printmaking, photography, and miniature mosaic work. My materials include metal, glass, enamel, paper, wire, leather, clay, epoxy, resin, paint, glue, plaster, cement, and found materials.

I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Carleton University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from The University of King’s College in Halifax. As an artist, I am primarily self-taught although I have benefited from generous instruction in a range of arts and crafts over the years.