Kathryn S. Kelley
Creativity—the capacity to make novel and meaningful contributions that influence a field—is commonly attributed to people rising to prominence in the sciences and arts. Creativity is generally considered advantageously adaptive for a society. Amongst noteworthy creative achievers such as scientists, philosophers, explorers, and artists, one common and persistent behavioral activity involves writing. In the sciences as with philosophy, writing is a vocational expectation. Within the artworld, stakeholders have historically resisted the visual artist as writer—construing artist through a binary lens of material maker, not thinker. Yet, like da Vinci, Gauguin, O'Keeffe, and Weiwei, artists tend to engage with ideas via a prolific critical and expressive writing practices, often beginning in childhood. The propensity of noteworthy creatives to gravitate toward writing—across time, vocational expectations, and cultural and individual differences—suggests that writing is serving some need or function common to these creative individuals.
From a psychological perspective this raises all sorts of questions.
- Why do artists write?
- Why do artists write beyond and even against vocational expectations?
- If visual artists across cultural and individual differences appear compelled to write, why? What intrapersonal needs does writing serve?
- Is there an interaction between artists' writing activities and creative cognition?
- Do their writing activities enhance ideation, persistence, and achievements?
- Does the artist's writing practice buffer psychological impact of personal risks associated with creativity—deviating from cultural or artistic norms?
- Does artists' writing practices buffer common psychological inconveniences—depression, bipolar disorders, schizotype, ADHD—common amongst the highly creative?
- Why are emerging artists' (students) artwork more sophisticated, novel and well-crafted when prompted with writing activities?
- How might the writing strategies of eminent artists be identified and used to equip emerging artists or other creatives?
These questions arose from my experiences working as a visual artist, interacting with my cohort of Houston's artists, teaching emerging artists as a Visiting Professor at SHSU developing the WASH program, and studying the history of eminent visual artists. Here at Tech I am supported in exploring some of these questions across academic domains.
Currently I work with in TCVPA's PeARL (David Sears and Peter Marten), Social Psychology's Language Use and Social (Molly Ireland) and with art scholars (Jorgelina Orfila, Heather Warren-Crow, and Ghislaine Fremaux). A primary method for exploring my questions is through computational text analysis of artists and scientists writings with the software Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC 2015) and statistical means (R environment). A positive side effect of my queries will be the acquisition of an interdisciplinary PhD in Fine Arts: Critical Studies and Artistic Practice in 2020 (expected).
Academic Awards, selected
Doctorate, TTU, Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
2019. School of Art Research Grant
2014-19. The CH Foundation Fellowship
2018-19. Richard and Sybille Dickey Art Scholarship
2017. Research Grants, VPA Dean & SOA
2017-18. White Regents Quasi Scholarship
2016-17. Hastie Scholarship
2016-17. Richard and Sybil Dickey Art VPA Scholarship
2016-17. Griffin Regents Quasi Scholarship
2015-16. Helen Jones Art Talent Scholarship
2014-15. Helen Jones Art Talent Scholarship
2014-15. Designated Scholarship
Presentations, recent
Kelley, K.S., Ireland, M.E., & Sears, D.R.W. (2019, Paper). Intellect differentially predicts creative activity and creative achievement. Annual American Psychology Association Conference: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Art, Chicago, CA
Kelley, K.S., Ireland, M.E., & Sears, D.R.W. (2019, Idea Incubator). Creative achievers' writing practices strategically regulate creative function and psychological risks common to creatives. European Collaborative Creativity Conference (EC3), Webster University, Geneva, Switzerland
Kelley, K.S., Ireland, M.E., & Sears, D.R.W. (2019, Poster). Eminent visual artists display high levels of intellect, cognitive complexity, and analytical thinking styles, compatible with Nobel Laureate scientists. Texas Tech University Graduate School Research Poster Competition, Lubbock, TX
Kelley, K.S., Ireland, M.E., & Sears, D.R.W. (2019, Poster). Openness: Eminent visual artists display high levels Intellect comparable to scientist. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology's Annual Convention, Portland, OR
Kelley, K.S. & Ireland, M.E. (2018, Paper). Real-world artists' display high levels of intellectual curiosity, cognitive complexity, and analytical thinking styles, with low levels of emotionality. University of Southern Oregon Psychology Conference: Creativity. Challenges, Practices and Complexities, Ashford, OR
Kelley, K.S. (2018, Presentation). Intellect: eminent visual artists display high levels of analytic thinking styles comparable to scientists. Graduate School Humanities Conference, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Kelley, K.S. & Ireland, M.E. (2018, Poster). Intellect: eminent visual artists display high levels of analytic thinking styles comparable to scientists. Annual American Psychology Association Conference: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Art, San François, CA
Kelley, K.S. (2018, Poster) Analysis of artists' writings: cues of internal facet regulation predictive of creativity. Annual American Psychology Association Conference: Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Art, San François, CA
Kelley, K.S. & Ireland, M.E. (2017, Conference Paper). Visual artists writing & shared vulnerabilities—creativity, Psychopathology & Expressive Writing. Conference: Writing about Contemporary Artists: Challenges, Practices and Complexities, University of Surrey, UK
Kelley, K.S. & Ireland, M.E. (2017, Poster). Visual artists regulating creative function via writing practices: shared vulnerabilities model + expressive writing paradigm. The Behavioral Sciences Institute, Radboud University Conference: Creativity + Innovation, The Netherlands.
Kelley, K.S. (2016, Paper) Overlapping fields of susceptibility: visual artists & expressive writing paradigm. Texas Tech: Arts and Humanities Conference, Lubbock, TX. Artist Residencies + Grants
Artist Awards, Residencies & Grants
2019. WestEnd Artist Residency
2017. I-Park International Artists Residency
2016. Texas Tech University Interdisciplinary Collaborative Project Grant
2013. Vermont Studio Center Artists' Residency
2012. I-Park International Artists Residency
2011. Dark Gallery Artists' Residency
2010. I-Park International Artists Residency
2008. Houston Artists' Alliance Emerging Artist Grant
Solo Exhibitions
2018. Meat Locker, Texas Tech University, School of Art 3D Annex Experimental Space, TX
2017. Somatic Compliance, TTU Satellite Gallery, Lubbock, TX
2015. Archiving Distensions of Memory (not to scale), LHUCA Warehouse, Lubbock, TX
2013. Uncontrollable Nature of Grief, Art League, Houston, Texas
2012. I Dissolve These Fabricated Seatings, College of the Mainland Gallery, TX
2012. Undisclosed Shadows, Blinn College, Brehnam, TX
2011. The Edge of My Unreadiness. Darke Gallery, Houston, TX
2010. Treading Where No One Hears the Echoes of Her Footfall, Women & Their Work, Austin, TX
2010. The Gray Area, University of Texas San Antonio Gallery, TX
2009 .I Breathe, Kingwood Art Gallery, TX
2009. Feet of Shadows, G Gallery, Houston, TX
2009. In the Space of Absence, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2008. Modes of Conformity, Bunker Hill City Hall, Houston, TX
Performing Arts Research Lab (PeARL)
-
Address
Holden Hall - Rm 103, 1011 Boston Ave., Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.0700 -
Email
cvpa.pearl@ttu.edu