Melissa Kaseman currently has her series, Preschool Pocket Treasures, on display in our 117 Gallery as part of our current exhibition, Favorites’ Favorites. You can check it out from now until February 10, 2018.
Bio:
Kaseman is always searching for the magic in the mundane and has a deep affinity for design, color, and light. She is often inspired by: childhood imagination, travel, photo books, domestic interiors and white skies.
Kaseman received her BFA in photography from the California College of the Arts in 2005, after studying Contemporary Photography at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Utrecht, Netherlands. Melissa utilizes her photographs as a way to understand her life experience and create a sense of personal history.
Preschool Pocket Treasures:
“Preschool Pocket Treasures is a photographic archive of the tiny magical objects found stuffed in the pockets of my son Calder after each day at preschool. I have always been drawn to photography’s capacity to suspend fleeting moments of transition and change. These moments are often overlooked or forgotten, left only to be sense when a memory is triggered. This project was born out of a desire to capture this chapter of his boyhood and development; creating a visual journal of his imagination. The magic of childhood is so fleeting, and these objects in Calder’s pockets represent a chapter of boyhood, his imagination, and the excitement of finding a ‘treasure’. The photographs are a taxonomy report of a child’s imagination and the traces of play, specifically Calder’s, during this chapter of his life when play is the forefront of his existence and development. As a mother and an artist, I wanted to document this time knowing that as he grows up his daily life in school will be consumed with homework and technology, and I wanted to create a record, and a reminder for him, of the inspiration that comes with play and imagination.”
Recognition:
Kaseman was named to the PDN30 in 2009, and most recently won an Editorial Choice award through the CENTER in Santa Fe, NM recognizing her project Preschool Pocket Treasures. Her work has been exhibited in group shows in Portland, San Francisco, Minot, and Santa Fe; and was an Artist in Residence at Minot State University in her home town of Minot, North Dakota. She currently lives and works in Seattle, Washington.
You can see Melissa’s work and more in our current exhibition, Favorites’ Favorites from now until February 10, 2018. Learn more here.
Check out more of Melissa’s work on her website.
