We were lucky to catch up with Chelsey Anderson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chelsey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?
The most important lesson that I learned in school was during my pursuit of a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA), Studio Art (2018-2022), where I learned to unapologetically trust and believe in myself.
Growing up, I was always the quiet, reliable, hardworking, straight-A student that thrived under other people’s praise. In grade school, I could have easily taken that motivation and pursued a role as class president, head a student committee or club, etc. However, I did not because I was constantly terrified of failing and to make matters worse, I was dreadfully shy. Thus, I quietly exceeded expectations, did well on all my tests, signed up for extra credit, etc. The one place where I would let go and take risks was art. In drawing and painting, I never felt fear and I never felt as if my expression was hindered by shyness. It was a safe space for me to get to know me. It’s no wonder that a lot of the themes that I explore, as an adult artist, have to do with personal narrative and storytelling.
I pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) after high school, and this is where my personality came online. Not only was I exploring my authentic self through my art, but I was also exceeding at it. I received tons of encouragement and praise from my instructors and peers. I applied to shows and exhibits and got in. It was as if I was connecting with a calling. Later, after a few years in the workforce, mostly working for arts organizations, and maintaining a steady studio practice, I decided to pursue a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA). I was completely blind-sided. After being accepted into a program in Washington, DC, I soon discovered that my professors did NOT like my work. Their critiques were fair and occasionally harsh, and most of the time they were helpful and thought provoking, but severely lacked support and encouragement. I became very aware of all the things that were not working in my artwork and eventually I started to realize that I had no idea, to their standards, what was working. I began to grasp straws for inspiration, and as soon as I would get started on a new direction, I would have a critique and lose all hope in whatever seed had just recently sprouted. I’m not saying it was all bad. I came out of my MFA program with a studio practice that was deepened in thought and research, with a new line of work that would change my art forever. That said, my inner teenage self that relied on others for approval and validation was rising to the surface – I had forgotten she existed – and she was pissed! I had never worked so hard for such harsh criticism in my entire life. For a while, I wasn’t even sure why I was admitted to the program if they didn’t see any depth in the work that I was doing. Finally, I came to a crossroads, and it was either 1) leave, or 2) my younger teenage self, had to go. At the end of the day, I wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t any growth to be had out of this experience, so I adapted. I let go of the part of myself that was triggered by their critiques, the part that cared so deeply about what they thought of me or my work. I learned to listen during my critiques in a way that allowed me to discern what was helpful and what I would simply throw out. Suddenly, I wasn’t giving my power away. If I spent an hour listening to my instructors talk about my work and couldn’t find anything productive or elevating, then I just walked away and kept doing what I felt was right. Later, they would complain that I hadn’t taken their previous advice and I would shake that off as well. By the end of my MFA experience, I had a bold body of work and research that I was deeply passionate about and proud of. More than that, I had a new sense of self and value that didn’t need anyone else’s approval. I wish this lesson could have been learned through support and encouragement; alas, life’s harder moments tend to leave us stronger and more withstanding in the long run.
Chelsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Artist Bio:
Chelsey A. Anderson (she/her) is an artist scholar who lives and works in Montgomery, Maryland. She makes paintings, drawings, and prints that cue the environment, body, spirit, and reference human-made systems that are meshed in an illustrious world of signifiers and personal narratives. Anderson’s work is concerned with questions about how systems impact each other and how an individual is positioned within the collective.
Anderson grew up in Frederick, Maryland in proximity to the Downtown Frederick Arts District. As an early adult, this became her artistic playground, where she first interned in arts admin and curation at the Delaplaine Arts Center while attending a magna arts program through Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS). These early experiences influenced her decision to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Towson University (2012), where she simultaneously practiced how to build and manage organizations by founding her alma mater’s Skydiving Club. Simultaneously, she exhibited and interned/worked at reputable arts organizations including the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; Walters Arts Museum, Baltimore, MD; and Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, Silver Spring, MD – just to name a few. Early on, Anderson knew that her art career would always have a balance between art-making (seen as an internal studio practice indebted to expression) and in arts/non-profit organizations (seen as an external space for community building and collaboration). She has earned two pinnacle degrees in the arts, including a Master of Arts Management (2015) and a Master of Fine Arts in Studio (2022), both from American University (AU), Washington, DC. Anderson has exhibited throughout the region including at the AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC; Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD; Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center, Silver Spring, MD; DISTRICT Arts, Frederick, MD, Delaplaine Arts Center, Frederick, MD, etc.
Anderson has led a vast career outside of the studio having worked for the National Center for Creative Aging, Washington, DC; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore, MD; and various roles within the arts and organizational leadership at American University. Additionally, she has served as an AU guest lecturer and led college prep courses – private instruction – for students who seek to enter arts & design degrees in higher education. Anderson also enjoys arts advocacy having been to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, with the American Alliance of Museums (2014) and American for the Arts (2016 & 2017) to speak with representatives about the impact of the arts across the country. Likewise, she has served as an advocate at the state level with Maryland Citizens for the Arts (2013-2016) in Annapolis, MD.
Currently, Anderson maintains a thriving studio practice in Montgomery, Maryland while working in Washington DC. She lives with her spouse (who she met in her college skydiving club years), three dogs, gardens and honeybees (and remains to this day an A-licensed skydiver). To learn more about her artwork and studio practice visit www.chelseyanderson.com.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Artist Statement:
I make paintings, drawings, and prints. My studio practice seeks to understand the connection between all human beings, as well as our symbiotic relationship with the physical earth that we occupy. I am interested in what it means to transform as an individual, providing a space to look inward, and what it means to be a catalyst for change in the collective, providing a space to look outward.
The undercurrent of my studio practice acknowledges a metaphysical energy within and surrounding each of us. This shows up in the colors and environments that I create, which lend themselves to nature, balance, and often in reference to a magically charged trinity (i.e., mind, body, and spirit; Maiden, Mother, and Crone; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, etc.). The tidal currents of my work acknowledge a 3D human experience, that I reflect on from the vantage point of my individual cultural lens; thus, acknowledging my identity as a white-identifying, cisgender, heterosexual, middle-class woman, etc. In this space, I continuously seek to unpack privilege and the intersection of what our identities mean in modern-day US culture (as well as what I hope they will mean in the future). I unpack these themes through surreal, theatrical, and drama-based imagery. Figures find themselves in disjointed environments and surrounded by illustrious signifiers. There is often a push/pull between how we experience the weight of human life and deep inner knowledge of the broader collective.
The relationship between spirit and our lived human experiences teaches us different things; wherein, the spirit acknowledges our connection through energy and the physical earth that we occupy, while in contrast our human experiences often teach us that we are different and divided by fear. My artwork is about the journey and story of “the individual”, who awakens through social and self-interrogation, in order to find themselves as a new being within the collective.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I knew how many “art worlds” are actually out there. The more I get to know the art world, the more I think of it as an endless series of “art tribes”, and it is set up so that anyone can create a new “tribe” at any moment, sometimes even accidentally. A lessening number of us are only exposed to art in grade school (i.e. ceramics, drawing and painting, printmaking, etc.). If you are lucky enough to find your way to a museum then you might even have a sense of the recorded history of art. Alas, the fact is, the arts are becoming rarer in school systems and becoming farther away as paintings hang on brick-and-mortar walls in museums. That said, this is the typical American experience with the arts. It is something you do with your kids, something you see in museums, or doesn’t exist in your life at all. Regardless of your entry point into the arts, the connection between what you drew with crayons at the age of five vs. what you see on the walls of these marble museums is quite disconnected. I believe this to be one of the biggest downfalls of the art world. All the magical in-between spaces and opportunities to engage with the arts (and dare I say, even see yourself as a creative person) are hidden or inaccessible. For those of us that study art in any capacity, there is a different downfall. I can guarantee it is not long before you begin to subtly understand the divisiveness of the artworlds (i.e. you will begin to hear language that notes “high art vs. low art”, “fine art vs. craft”, “kitsch art vs. real art”, etc.). Honestly, it’s all bull sh*t. There is no such thing as “good art” or “bad art”, there is just ART. Yes, there can be art that you as an individual prefers over others, and there can be an endless number of factors that help you determine your preferences. However, at the end of the day, artmaking is one type of creativity, and any calling of creativity is our soul begging us to release the gifts that we were sent here to give to this world, and to each other. The resource that I wish I gave more validity to is the belief in my own creativity and the wisdom that I didn’t need anyone else to help me unlock its full potential. I am grateful for my degrees in the arts; however, I was born with everything I needed to live an abundant creative life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chelseyanderson.com
- Instagram: @chelseyastudios