We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kayli Cottonwood a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kayli, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project thus far is my recreation of a cottonwood tree titled “What Have We Lost?” in which I rearticulated reclaimed cottonwood twigs with brass wire and erected it onto a steel base. In total the sculpture is a little over 6ft tall and 4ft wide with skeletal branches that reach out toward the audience. This piece deals with the difficult topics of climate change as it impacts our Colorado Plains ecosystems; specifically researching the ecology of cottonwood trees and their importance in riparian ecosystems. The sculpture accomplishes bringing the audience into a state of reverence and reflection, providing space for them to experience their climate grief in a culture that denies these feelings.

During the creation of “What Have We Lost?” I was processing some complex emotions after a significant loss in my family. In dealing with my grief, I turned to my namesake tree, the cottonwood, as a manifestation of family and belonging which brought me comfort and grounded me in the project. I looked at this tree more closely than ever before, taking time to deconstruct the salvaged branches and twigs, stripping the bark and experimenting with articulation methods. I was channeling my familial grief and climate grief into the materials, which was reflected in the final work.

Cottonwood trees are an essential flora of plains riparian ecosystems and are suffering great losses as a result of climate change driven drought and water mismanagement. Ecologists are starting to get funding to do more research into natural systems and how non-human life contributes to these systems to create a thriving ecosystem. Cottonwood trees contribute in 3 major ways. First, they take root horizontally instead of vertically, meaning their growth relies on natural seasonal flooding; their roots create structure in otherwise sandy soil for other flora to take root into. Second, when matured, their height provides more shade than non-native invasive species; which shade is essential for other flora in a dry plains environment that generally gets a lot of sun. Third, their wide and tall canopies provide shelters for a wide range of wildlife, including birds of prey which prefer higher ground for nesting.

Kayli, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a recent graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver where I earned a bachelor’s in fine art and a minor in entrepreneurship. I was born and raised in the suburbs in the southern outskirts of Denver and recently moved to Denver proper to pursue an artistic career. I am thankful to my mother’s side of my family who are all creatives with their own practices; through them I have learned creative problem solving, growing through mistakes and taking chances on the creative lifestyle despite the practical challenges. In my undergrad I found great fulfillment in a research-based artistic practice with a focus on environmental sciences. I take a lot of time (and pride) in understanding the materials I am using and strive to create an intimate connection with my techniques. For example, I have been drawn to weaving as a means of communicating artistic ideas, but the process of weaving is also a coping mechanism – so I will usually incorporate it into an artwork when I am struggling with the research content or something in my personal life.

I am excited about book-making and what humanity chooses to record in writing including personal experiences, mythologies, scientific observations and philosophical discussions. A book is not something for an audience to experience all at once, but for an individual to progress through at their own pace. This relationship between art and audience is really interesting for me, and I think it presents a different way to consume art. To use some business language, my target audience are individuals who are seeking to reflect on their relationships with themselves and their environments. This tends to be people in their retirement years who reflect on their lives and how the world has changed around them for better or worse, or young people who are seeking methods of slowing down in a culture that is geared toward short attention spans. My work often becomes an obsession and I never expect my audience to be consumed, but my hope is to create a pause that disrupts the normal art experience, creating space for the individual to experience my work through their unique perspective and find meaning within.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I am no expert in social media marketing, despite having the book-knowledge obtained from my business courses. Few people post to social media daily artist or non-artist, yet this is one of the best ways to build and keep a healthy audience. My advise for creatives who do not like social media in their personal lives, is to treat the social media like a friend that you want to show your work to. I often have close friends ask to see pictures of what I am working on and I always redirect them to my Instagram posts and stories, and then when I post I keep my friends in mind. By thinking of my friends when I make content, I am inherently working from a place of authenticity, which is really important to me and can build a genuine audience (opposed to relying on trends and marketing schemes that take longer to produce). In this way, my social media followers will know exactly what to expect from me when they meet me in person. I remember the first time someone recognized me at a show because they followed me online, and that was a really exciting conversation because I am authentic online I could easily jump into a conversation and answer their questions without any awkward small talk. The last piece of advice I have for building a social media presence, specifically for those who don’t like social media, is to consider it part of the job and create a schedule that will work for you and get you the most engagement. For me this looks like creating a post when I am on my 15 minute break from my 9-5; I am already in a productive computer mindset and can quickly put something together at a busy time of day for Instagram usage.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

There are a couple things that I think non-creatives will have difficulty understanding about the career of an artist, and not because they don’t care about it, but because there is not a lot of visibility to these behind the scenes operations. First, there are very few artists who are “just talented”, just like any career, there are thousands of hours of education and practice that enrich any natural talent. Despite coming from a family of creatives, I believe that my artistic skill requires consistent practice, understanding this is essential to understanding the value of art. Second, as an artist there is so much more going on behind the artwork that many people don’t acknowledge. Most artists don’t have a marketing team, legal team, accounting team, gallery representation or manager; without these additional resources artists are wearing every hat in their business. Not only are they executing every aspect of their business, but they are also paying for every aspect, and there are many costs that may come to a surprise for non-creatives; for example, applying for a job is usually free, but every show an artist applies to has a fee. I think it is a great disservice to the arts community when non-creatives do not understand the amount of labor that not only goes into becoming an amazing artist and making artwork, but also in running a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: cottonwoodstudio.art
• Instagram: @cottonwoods.studio

Image Credits
Kayli Cottonwood Andrew Kline Juli Yanai