I just never really knew how to make it into a career when I was much younger. I grew up in rural Michigan, so as far as arts went in school, we only had drawing one, two, and three. So there wasn’t much opportunity for me to explore outside of that.

So I only really knew how to be an artist, and I think I just organically took the things that I understood and then put them in a place that I felt most excited or most enticed by from my experiences as a child. So sculpting, creating art for the body. 

Muaz

Oh great. So how did that build from this creative journey that you started on into something that is a career?

So was the journey organic or was it something that was by design? 

Kelsey

It was definitely organic. I went from high school doing these drawing courses and always having like, you know, I was digging up clay in my backyard and sculpting with it, you know, like very, very naturally intuitive. And then I went straight into fashion design with a fine art portfolio at Columbia College Chicago.

So my goal was to kind of embed the two, but I never knew how I was actually gonna do it. Because this whole environment and way of working was new for me having come from such a rural education system and moving into, you know, like into college, but into a specialization. So, it really did happen quite naturally for me.

Muaz

At least in my case, my creativity built on the experiences being generated around me.

So it was quite organic for me when it came to the life choices that I made were determined by the experiences I was having at the time, and that drove the next step. Rather than me as a five year old saying, okay, this is what I want to do. And then at building five year plans as I was progressing through life.

So it was more at the time, okay, this is really cool. Maybe I need to change my trajectory slightly and move in this direction. And before you know it, here we are. Oh. Amazing. 

Kelsey

Yeah, I mean like the five-year-old self doesn’t know the capacity of what, and especially depending on your worldview at that time, you really don’t know what else can exist for you or what you can make from it.

So it’s like, and you know, to be fair, like there really is no yellow brick road in the arts in any form of creativity. And maybe even in life, I just can’t speak for all, all forms of careers. 

Muaz

And we’re also unique, right? I mean, like even if I think on a super micro level, even within my own family, right?

My siblings have got such a different view and we’ve had an almost identical upbringing, and we’re so unique in the way we visualize things, our creativity, all of those things. And it’s quite interesting when it comes to the journeys that we take. We think that whether as a species or there is an average, but there really isn’t when we think about it. We all have to find our journey, and we teach ourselves as we go along. 

Great. So I guess now you’ve been through this whole journey, you’ve found the areas that you find the most potential within yourself, and you’ve driven a career out of it. So now that you’re at this stage, when it comes to the actual projects that you’re working on, what is your process of working on these projects?

Do you have a particular method and like what are the stages involved in the kind of creative projects that you’re involved in? 

Kelsey

Yeah, so it’s a complex question cause when I’m asked something like this, it always reminds me of when I was like in higher education and I was questioned whether design inspires material or material leads design, and it’s like that starting stage of kind of diving into something. 

And I always had a really hard time answering this or even just like deciding that there was one way, because I really don’t think there is one way. I think it really depends on like why you’re actually putting something into the universe.

And I think the conceptual reasoning behind something is what guides the entire process. So I’d say that each time I build something, it’s a little bit different. Because maybe the material’s more important than the actual shape, or the shape becomes more important than the material. But everything does follow like a very, maybe not sensitive is the right word, but a very thoughtful track.

To kind of come back and always check in. We check in with the concept because if you’re not loyal to that, then like what is it? So I think concept for me is the most important reason ‘cause I wanna know why I’m doing something. And I think when you’re building in such an abstract way, it’s really important that that work has an intention, a purpose.

And for me that’s really important. And I guess that comes back around to the environment. 

Muaz

Great. So do you start with the object or do you start with an abstract idea and then find an object to encapsulate that, whether it is a textile or something else? 

Kelsey

So for me, okay, so it’s like concept, which wouldn’t be necessarily like to recreate something that is something that already exists.

It’s more like expression. So I use a lot of words to kind of generate a shape, which I know is my life might be a whole lot easier if I took a shape and tried to recreate it in my own unique way, but instead I use words and then I let those words kind of create a mind map or what I like to call a constellation.

I draw the connections between the words and then for me, that kind of creates this organic, yet complex shape that kind of comes back around to what I’m speaking about or what I’m trying to say. So I really don’t actually seek out things, real objects. Like anything that already that I can see is something that I create in my mind and then project outward and then wrap it around the body.

I think for me, it definitely goes in the form of concept and then illustration or kind of prototyping. But also finding these words and really dissecting these words in a way that I can understand like their, the multitude, of like, you know, you have a word and it means four different things.

So like, drawing that back together. And then also then material design, and then coming back to material and then going back to design. There’s a lot of back and forth because it’s just like, everything for me, not that perfection exists, but I really appreciate honesty, and like conceptual honesty.

So that’s really important to me, I think as a designer and artist. 

Muaz

Great. So when you start creating a piece, ‘cause I guess purely from thinking about retail fashion, for example, a fashion designer would need to think about multiple sizes and shapes, right? But from a sculpting point of view, that constraint probably doesn’t apply to you, right?

But is that part of your mindset when you’re actually sculpting something to go around a body? Does the shape and form of the body also form part of your creative process? 

[00:08:49] Kelsey: So I never really, not that you were saying that, but I never really see the body as a constraint. I think in some ways, ironically, my work is a constraint on the body. But I guess that comes back to the concept, right? 

So, but anyways, I think that generally, like the body inspires some portion of the work because I feel like I understand it so well that if it’s bigger or smaller, whatever, like none of that really matters to me.

I can bespoke, I can customize something to anybody, but in terms of retail, like its two different ballgame. 

Muaz

Yeah, absolutely. Because I guess from a sculpting point of view, and I guess from a fashion point of view, each creative output has got a particular audience in mind. Right? So when it comes to your lens and your segment of fashion, what is your audience and what story are your pieces basically conveying to your audience?

Kelsey

So I think this is gonna go against all the rules, and I don’t think it’s, I’m about to say it’s gonna go against the rules. If there are rules. And I’ve been asked, like even in uni, like I always ask, you know, who’s your audience? And it’s like, I don’t actually know. Like I genuinely do not know who my audience is.

I think that people who are inspired by your work find you. They find you. Yeah. And I think that this is something that’s happened for me very organically and I’m super thankful for it and I think because I’m working in a space that is a niche, I think that naturally those people who appreciate that area and that field and, and that process. And like what you’re doing, they kind of come to you and it happens very organically and those people seek you out.

So I think that has been a really beautiful and like eye-opening experience. When I do reflect on like, you know, sometimes I think more in America than in the UK where I felt the pressure of finding my target audience. 

Muaz

I’ve heard that very often. So I absolutely know where, where you’re coming from.

Kelsey

Yeah. 

Muaz

But you know, I’ve heard, I mean, building for yourself can be very therapeutic as well. You know, ‘cause like when conceptually, your audience is a reflection of you and you’re building for yourself. And when you throw that out into the universe, other people like yourself discover you through your art.

I think that that is fascinating and it’s an incredible part of the creative process. And there are a number of designers that I’ve met that you know their audiences themselves and you know, they’re building something for not only for themselves, but also people with their unique view of the world.

Right? And that process also builds on their creativity because the more people that they find that are like themselves, kind of feed into their creative process. And it builds on future work. You know, like we keep on talking, people talk about things like bubbles and like all sorts of things like being restrictive.

But when you think about it from a creative point of view, it forms part of a natural constraint, particularly when you’re a creative that can help you as part of your journey. So that’s fascinating and I find that it happens more in the very creative industries that lean more towards creative.

You know, you’d find that in particular parts of fashion, but you’d also find it in particular parts of technology where you’d have like specific, you know, whether it’s a startup or really small companies, where initially they’re building for themselves. You know, they’re like, okay, this is something that I want, or this is something that I wanna see out in the world.

And that’s how they find their community because they, they’re like other people who are like, okay, wow, there’s someone else who also has the same mindset or a similar mindset that is building something that feels like it’s for me. And you know, that’s a fascinating connection that you can make with other people. 

Kelsey

Yeah, I think like, obviously like in life, they’re gonna keep learning. So there’s something that I’ve recently, kinda learned, well, as I sit between this sweet spot between art and design and, you know, design is, we’re meant to put something into the universe to make life easier. Essentially that is the point. It’s supposed to be more utilitarian. 

And then as an artist, we put things that are more expressive to teach us about the world. And I think when you combine those two things, you have something really, really unique where there’s a really blurred line between who it’s for and what it does and why it exists.

And I think that for me, is why I always come back to the reason behind something being vital. 

Muaz

Now, when you go beyond just working on your own, when you’re like working with other creatives, what is your process? Both when it’s an actual collaboration? You know, when you’re collaborating on a particular piece? But also if you’re working with someone, not as a collaboration, but as well, I guess you could call it a form of collaboration, but working with a creative to visualize your own piece, whether it’s a, you know, a photographer or a set designer or something like that.

Kelsey

I think like in general, like communication is key. So I think if anyone comes to me collaboratively, it’s definitely for a specific reason. You know, like my work is very particular, so that’s always usually really nice because typically they’re coming to me because they’re inspired by something that I’m doing.

So it still allows me the freedom to be and create in the way that I would. So when it comes back to, like the conceptual reason that is bringing them forward. I just really like to hear them out and also know their research and how much I need to add to it as well to then create that shape. And then when it comes down to like getting into it, I send hundreds of drafts.

I will send you the first set of drafts, then we revise, and then the second set, and there could be 150. Just because like it’s also important for me to know what something can be? And I think that’s where, that’s kind of where I come in and then I select my favorites, they select theirs, and then kind of merge the two together to create something that I’m very proud of and that they’re really excited to realize as well.

Muaz

Great. So the path again is quite organic. You don’t follow like, great. So how long does the average collaboration take? Is it something that takes months, it takes weeks, or does it depend on the magnitude of the project?

Kelsey

Yeah. So definitely it depends on the magnitude of the project. So just about a month ago I was working on a project and I finished it in two days.

You know, like it was like less rigorous in terms of like what bound the actual, I was given like a kind of a, almost a brief in a way. And then I just rendered something very quickly and it just happened like it made sense. And it was like the universe aligned and then we photographed it and it’s stunning. So very happy with that.

And sometimes it’s important not to overthink things. That’s why I exhaust the iterations and then I come back to it and I’m like, okay, this section was overthought, this one was underthought. And here we are. And then more recently, I have other projects going on that are gonna take me three months because just like, we’re building in such an extreme way. The design process, a few weeks. The making, three months. 

Muaz

Great. So, when it comes to, I guess a step further from, well, I guess it’s a type of a collaboration, but if you’re, exhibiting somewhere. Would you handle that in a way that would be different from a collaboration with an individual where you want to exhibit for a particular place?

Would that kind of fit into your creative process with regards to how you would approach it?

Kelsey

Yeah, so all the exhibitions I’ve participated in, the work has already existed, but how that work is displayed, is a little different. ‘Cause usually there are curators for exhibitions and they really, they get your input, but at the same time, it’s also important for them to project how they want the work to be seen as well.

And I haven’t had, like, every curator I’ve worked with has been lovely and very supportive and got my insight as well, so. Especially ‘cause my work is really complex to even put on the body or like handle. So there’s a feed loop that just keeps coming back where they do ask a lot of my advice or opinion and things and I try and create, like if I know this setting of where, like in April, my April May, my work was in, the Creative Climate Awards in New York and it was being displayed in the botanical garden.

So, for me to get an image of what that space looks like, and then I create blueprints if you will. Where I kind of create the setting of how the work should be displayed within that background or within that space, if I know like the limitations and anything. So I always try and make it as easy as possible because I know that it, it’s challenging when you’re working with things that aren’t framed on a wall.

Muaz

Great. Yeah, no, that makes complete sense. That’s really fascinating when it comes to thinking about fashion and, you know, using such a lens. Yeah. I find that fascinating. So, does technology play a part in your creative process? And if it does, what role does it play? 

Kelsey

So, since I grew up in rural Michigan, I always say that my hand intelligence is far more stronger than my tech side of me, but something that I’ve always then trying to push is those boundaries in terms of technology, the fear behind, like working with it or the fact that it might take me longer to learn. 

But honestly, like that’s what my focus was in my education was kind of embedding the 3D printing, the laser cutting, and kind of getting familiarized with all these software and obviously Adobe as well, and I feel like I’ve mastered it in a way.

And it’s definitely supported the process and the time that goes into making. So most of my work is actually laser cut. Yeah, and it definitely has improved my process and I think the outcome has definitely been enhanced by using that. But as far as when I design, I actually use a lot of Photoshop and Illustrator to actually render my work to kind of create design significantly faster than by just using my drawing skills.

Muaz

Oh, perfect. It’s quite interesting and I don’t know if it’s just me, but there are overtones when I think about how a jeweller works from like how you’re describing some of your processes. I know a number of jewellers and they describe what they do in very similar terms to how you just described that, so. And I guess that is, if you think about it, sculpting around the body as well.

You can find Kelsey online at:

• Website: kelseyannkasom.com
• Instagram: @kelseyannkasom

You can listen to the whole interview podcast over on our podcast page or by clicking here at Moulding Fashion: The Fusion of Art and Design.