An Interview with Kelly M. Parsons

By Jillian D’Apollo

It was a typical somber New England Thursday when I arrived at the Worcester Art Museum to speak with the ever so humble Emerson College film graduate/self-taught musician/photographer/art instructor and student Kelly Parsons.

This 26-year-old Worcester resident had just exited her intensive anatomy/life drawing course holding a wad of rolled up drawings beneath her arm and a lime green backpack which matched her brightly colored argyle print v-neck made up of bold oranges and daring fluorescent greens. The look complimented the artist’s short, messy, bleach blonde hair style.

She led me to her car where the bright orange spray paint on the bumper reflects her mission as an artist ~ Free Freedom. When asked how she would define where her art comes from, she had an interesting response.

“It all stems from self-exploration,” she said. “Most of it hardly ever comes from inner turmoil or negativity. And in today’s art, especially in film, the mainstream and the avant-garde are merging in this cool way. In some instances, though, it’s superficial ~ mainly for marketing.”

Parsons feels she has a lot of skillful growth to experience. She finds most of her inspiration through teaching. Parsons sees teaching as a performance where the combination of artists and teachers provide a variety of feedback and new angles for creating.

Growing up in a family of “talent,” Kelly was often encouraged to immerse herself in art simply as a hobby. Her new network of Worcester artist friends has taught her that a hobby can be taken seriously. Parson feels that art functions as a conduit for change, mainly due to exposure and conversations amongst other artists.

“People rely on one another for different avenues of self-expression, which then gives birth to change within the individual in society.”

Her experience studying film has also allowed her to view photography in a new light.

“All art mediums are based on imagery, composition and editing,” said Parsons. “Film is obviously different because it has the third dimension of time. They [the mediums] definitely inform each other and having taken photography and film classes, I now visually compose ideas on a whole new level.”

One of Parsons’ recent works was completed during her unique class at WAM ~ studying abroad along the coasts of Canada and Nova Scotia during a “Sea Semester.” With a lot of patience, Parsons snapped a black and white photo of a 134 foot steel ship known as the Corwith-Cramer.

After hours circling around the vessel in a rescue raft, she eventually captured a perfect glimpse of the ship. Such is a portrait that speaks volumes about strength and honor against a moving contrast of the darkened Atlantic Ocean and clear skies.

When she’s not busy singing and practicing guitar riffs with her ethereal indie punk rock band, Kelly Parsons shares her wisdom, knowledge and zeal for creation by offering basic drawing and painting classes at WAM to youths between the ages of five and 17. The aspiring artist will continue to stand out in a crowd as her method of approaching art remains pure and uninhibited, and her strong desire to create transcends popular trends.

Photo: Corwith-Cramer by Kelly M. Parsons