Keltie Ferris' paintings see 'through to other worlds'

“There's something very indulgent about painting” said painter Keltie Ferris.

In 2011, Ferris opened her Brooklyn studio to Art21 for a behind-the-scenes look into her studio practice. Applying oil paint with various techniques--brush, palette knife, and a spray gun--she builds up layers of marks over several weeks into complex shapes and patterns.

Asserting that abstraction is about “trying to undo the nameable things in life," Ferris describes her paintings as being about "seeing through to other worlds.” Here, one sees early stages of the painting 1 2 and 3 4 that is currently on view in Confronting the Canvas: Women of Abstraction.

Art21 has documented contemporary art and artists through its Peabody Award-winning biennial television series, Art in the Twenty-First Century, for ten years. The nonprofit organization teaches millions of people of all ages about contemporary art, artists, and their creative processes.

Production stills from the Art21 New York Close Up film Keltie Ferris Spray Paints in Solitude are also reproduced in the exhibition catalog, which is available in the MOCA Shop.