Kelly Berg: A Crack in Everything

Kelly Berg’s paintings and mixed media sculptural works explore the ever-shifting nature of our world. Known for her compositions depicting the movement of tectonic plates, volcanic eruptions, and dramatic geologic formations, Berg’s works offer a new perspective within the context of contemporary landscape and the sublime. The integration of geometric forms within her compositions and the reoccurring imagery of pyramids emerging from dark rifts in the earth create a visual framework that symbolize a convergence of the human and natural worlds. Integral to the work is Berg’s own personal experiences and physical presence in the landscapes she depicts. Her process includes conducting her own research projects, plein air drawing, and photography of the specific geological and archeological sites that she is compelled to create her work about. In her paintings, she uses an adaption of the Renaissance Grisaille technique to acrylics, creating a luminous effect through many layers of glazes. Some of Berg’s works occupy the space between painting and sculpture using metal mesh, plexiglass shards, and the extension of the painting to the sides of the canvas to suggest topographies and geologic formations. Through Berg’s techniques and imagery she creates a visual tension between danger and beauty and the overall sense of a world constantly in flux. She references her experiences observing the various stages of volcanic eruptions of Kilauea in Hawaii and the cycle of destruction and creation of new land as the framework for her own world view and that which she depicts in her art. Emanating light and the overall mysterious quality of Berg’s landscapes ultimately offer a sense of optimism and hope in that which cannot be fully explained or understood.