Shellie Kacillas

Bio

Originally from Colorado, Shellie Kacillas is a Kansas City based ceramic artist and teacher. After receiving her BFA in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute, Kacillas spent another year at the institute to receive her K-12 teaching certification. During her time at KCAI Kacillas spent a summer as an artist in residence at the International Ceramic Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary. She has shown her ceramics internationally at the ICS, in several shows at the Kansas City Art Institute, Red Star Studios, the Charlie Cummings Gallery, Epsten Gallery and at the 2016 NCECA conference. She has taught art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, and Red Star Studios. She is currently working as a secondary art teacher for Kansas City Public Schools at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy for her seventh year. Simultaneously she is working towards her Masters of Fine Arts degree at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is also a co-founder of Art Garden KC which is a no charge, weekly art fair in Northeast Kansas City.

Artist Statement

The vessel is often used to house objects directly related to life. Food and water – which are needed to sustain existence – are held in cups, plates, and bowls. Similarly, vases and planters are essential for supporting life itself. It is through this perspective that I connect to the vessel on a personal level. Just as my body contains life, so too does my art. 

Forms inspired by floral anatomy, a color palette derived from scenery found in manicured gardens or wild forests, and patterns engendering microscopic imagery of flower stem cross sections, are all examples of how I illuminate life upon the vessel. I coalesce the decadence of an 18th Century European teapot with the charm of a handpicked flower because that is how I view the life within me. Rich, precious, elegant, fertile, something to be cautiously, yet proudly cupped within your hands.