Kelly Yarbrough Frasier, Manhattan, Kansas, working in drawing and mixed media, will be the Artist-in-Residence at the Red Barn Studio Museum from March 1 to March 9. Her work begins in the Tallgrass prairie of Kansas but isn’t limited by a specific point in time or a definite point of reference. The representations of prairie environment show individual elements but imply the “whole” that they are part of. She quotes Robert Smithson from a 1976 essay that, “We cannot take a one-sided view of the landscape  . . . as a ‘thing in itself’, but rather a process of ongoing relationships existing on a physical region.” With that attitude in mind, rather than offering the frame of reference of a horizon she puts artist and viewer both in the middle of the landscape, inviting a personal involvement with the environment. During her residency Kelly is intending to continue with a series of mixed media works on paper exploring intuitive drawing processes and continuity across materials. This will include drawing on top of and working into gesture drawings done earlier, “a collaborative process with the plant subjects and my past self to create something new and responsive.”

Frasier has had numerous individual exhibitions and been part of group exhibitions from the US to London; she has served in numerous capacities in teaching, projects and organizations, as well as residencies, visiting artist and speaking settings. Her work may be viewed on her website at https://www.kellyyarbrough.com/.