Kenzi Rayelle

Artist Statement

I use my work to navigate the present moment in relation to past trauma, personal and collective, serving as a platform for exploration and inquiry into adult development and self-actualization. I investigate what the body withholds from present consciousness, giving experiences life outside the mind and body, transforming them into subject and object. I explore what it means to confront fear, engage with emotions, and ponder the intricacies of trauma as an individual and as a community.

With a fascination for the body as a vehicle of the “self” and emotions, I incorporate anatomical shapes, viscera, and tumors crafted from textiles and clay to explore these themes. Creating in tandem with my emotions and vulnerability, I am drawn to soft materials, which allow these experiences to take on organic forms. Textiles also connect my generational trauma through my family’s history of quilting. Serving as a point of connection with the grief shared by my past and present selves, I see this as a link between mind and body, perceiving the stuck points younger selves endured.

I have found that my process aligns with the ideologies of Robert Kegan, who theorized the challenges of adult development. Through my work, I reflect on self-actualization, exploring how recurring stuck points in key developmental stages can be transformed. My practice turns trauma into form and understanding, making these processes perceptible and accessible to the world around me.

As an emerging artist, I am committed to strengthening the connection between art and embodied healing, sharing the techniques in my practice as a pathway toward self-actualization. The Nohl grant will support the continuation of my practice and expansion of my research. In addition to supporting a large-scale exhibition in Milwaukee I’m curating, which fills a vital need for local connection, opportunities, and expansion of artistic innovation.