Interview with Kiarra Elliott
Kiarra Elliott, Betta, 2019, Oil on Wood
Born and raised in Southern California now living in Brooklyn, New York, I started my interest in the arts at an early age. I embraced my artist journey even more in high school while attending Orange County School of the Arts- Visual Arts Conservatory. Being there solidified the seed of art expression and the artist’s voice. Understanding the foundation of different mediums such as watercolor, oil paint, and acrylic to colored pencils and chalk, I was able to take small pieces of each study and personalize them. This mix-and-match process helped me realize the untapped potential I had deep inside yearning to be molded into its own voice.
I continued my art studies into college, diving deeper into material use and what their unlimited qualities could be. Questioning the foundation and building my own style, I birthed a new way of creating. I took bits and pieces away from watercolor, oil paint, pencil etching, and even some graffiti techniques and fused them into one.
In 2013 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts and although armed with a degree and the end of my college career, I found myself still having an internal dialogue that reached more than just the surface of medium techniques. I reflected on questions from “Where is our representation?” to “How can I use my art to shift the dialogue?” and “How can I show up authentically in these spaces?” These questions ultimately helped unlock my artistic journey to new levels. I started my brand Afrocentric Keyy, a creative brand where I can dive deeper into these questions by creating unique unconventional oil paintings that bring life to silent spaces.
Kiarra Elliott, Ambition, 2020, Oil on Wood
As a Black female artist, I want to create spaces, evoke emotion, and start conversations around art and visual representation of those from the African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean diaspora. My goal is to generate a two-way engagement involving visual interaction and Black women, which creates a mutual benefit between the viewer and artist.
Each piece stimulates the viewer enough to pause, reflect, and go on a visual journey. The different aspects of my work—whether it be the scale of the painting, the choice of recycled wood as my canvas, the vivid color usage, or the fluidity of animals alongside women—provoke the viewer to explore the strength and power of the portraiture. Through the metaphorical thermal goggles, I create a space to see the unseen—I go beyond the exterior to amplify a group of Black voices and perspectives that are more nuanced and abundant than their traditional representations.
Read our interview below to get a glimpse into Kiarra Elliott’s creative journey.
How do you seek out opportunities? How have you developed your career?
I have recently joined different Slack groups and artist communities that share opportunities that may interest me and other artists. Putting yourself out there and joining different types of communities (especially virtual) with the same interests can really help network you into unexpected opportunities. I have gotten wonderful opportunities that have helped in my growth as an artist this way.
How has pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts impacted your experience as a creator over the years? What have you learned that you still use today?
My degree provided me with a space to challenge what I understood as art and allowed me to explore what type of work I wanted to create. I consider my experiences and time getting my degrees as my season of laying down the foundation for my craft. The more I pour into my fundamentals and continue exploring, creating, and growing in canvas size, the better I can paint my stories.
My current process still looks the same as in the beginning— I sketch my image on canvas while loudly playing one of my “liked songs” from my Spotify playlist and completely immersing myself with beats, colors, and a fresh canvas for hours on end. This process is my never-fail and go-to starter for creating.
What types of art and culture do you like to consume? Who or what are your most important artistic influences?
When it comes to art and culture I am pretty much a melting pot of wanting to experience it all. I am constantly being inspired by other cultures, art forms and customs which all allow me to think of how I want to portray my own work. These moments help influence me to push deeper and further in my creative development. For example, when I went to Kenya I was introduced to a few contemporary African artists who think outside the box in creating beautiful portraits out of recycled materials such as paper, metal pieces, and wires.
My top two artistic influences especially now are Jean-Michel Basquait and Kehinde Willey. Basquait reminds me to allow my art to be just art and breathe on its own. Every spill, splash, or shift in paint is its own statement and shouldn’t be erased or painted over but celebrated in making a piece that much more unique. Kehinde inspires me to keep working on my craft in detail and on a large scale. His hyperrealism painting style of the Black figure with such rich, vivid color is something that I aspire to accomplish in my own work.
How do you define success as an artist? What do you wish to accomplish?
This has always been hard for me as I always think that success has so many different sectors to it. There is success as defined by society, by the artist community, by your finances, and most importantly by yourself. For me where I am right now as an artist I define it as the moment I am at peace the most and still enjoying creating. Of course, I would love more work opportunities and credibility worldwide, but I also know that everything happens in its own time so stressing myself out because I am not currently in that large-scale space right now doesn’t bring any type of peace to me.
Kiarra Elliott, Resilience, 2021, Oil on Wood
Artist Contact Info
Website: afrocentrickeyy.com
Instagram: @afrocentrickeyy
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