Caffyn Kelley
Caffyn Kelley is a multidisciplinary artist and writer who lives on Salt Spring Island. Her work in various media is united by a concern for social issues and community process. Caffyn was the editor and publisher of Gallerie, a quarterly publication on women in the arts, from 1988 and 1993. Gallerie made space for women artists to speak for themselves on a wide range of social and personal issues. It was widely reviewed and distributed internationally. More recently, Caffyn has developed a body of work around the concept of “mapping” home and nature, with large-scale public projects in Vancouver that link art with environmental concerns. Another body of work, exploring the cultural meanings of homosexuality with attention to homophobic stereotypes, is published online at www.queermap.com. Caffyn is active in several community organizations, including Gays and Lesbians of Salt Spring Island (GLOSSI) and the Islands Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies. She is the author of Art and Survival: Patricia Johanson's Environmental Projects. See Caffyn Kelley home page.
Fabric Art:
Earth Icon: Friendship, fabric applique, 16" x 24"
In each lesbian and gay person there is a spirit that cannot shine in the dead forms and obligatory gestures of nuclear family life. While family binds us to service, friendship is "a boundless desire."
Community Projects:
Community Quilt from the Trout Lake Community Mapping Project.
Environmental Art:
From Artist's Statement: "For over a year I worked with schools, artists, naturalists, citizens and community groups to map nature at the lake. We created a 400-foot long environmental sculpture for permanent installation in the park. The piece was built out of plants, earth, and river rocks. It was an image of Trout Lake in a natural or restored state, with creeks flowing in and out. Engraved rocks incorporated into the sculpture formed a poem about water. Water Dream / Water Memory was designed to provide habitat for birds, small mammals and amphibians. Grass in the area of the sculpture was allowed to grow long, and native shrubs were planted along the line of rocks, creating a “river” of wildness flowing along the line of a buried creek, in a park where nature was buried, simplified and overbuilt."