Kelly Meyer has long been fascinated by reuse and renewal, as well as the beauty waiting to be found in even the most minute or unexpected places.
Those concepts form the foundation of the St. Joseph-based artist’s latest exhibition titled “NATURALLY CURIOUS: An Exploration of Nature, Death and Sustainability,” which opens March 25 and runs through May 17 in the Benedict and Dorothy Gorecki Gallery and Lounge at the College of Saint Benedict’s Benedicta Arts Center.
A reception and artist talk are scheduled for Thursday, April 3, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The show consists of a number of embroideries made through the use of recycled textiles and dyed through eco-printing, which utilizes the tannin found in plants to replicate the patterns of flowers and leaves.
The Slayton, Minnesota, native also created a series of embroideries on fish bones collected from the shores of Lake Shetek in Southwestern Minnesota after a large winterkill impacted the lake’s fish population in 2023.
Some items also utilize bits of feathers, found bugs, snake shed and more.
“I wanted to take things that were still so beautiful, but seemed to have no further purpose and refashion them into something new,” she said. “I had to get past that part of myself that was immediately turned off by the concept of death. When you see a butterfly land on your hand, it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. But if you come across the same butterfly after it’s died moments later, it seems creepy.
“I wanted to explore what it is about death that seems to repulse us.”
In addition, the exhibition includes a couple of mixed media, three-dimensional objects.
“The sustainability piece is a huge thing for me, but I also want people to think about the small beauties we’re surrounded by every day,” Meyer said. “Whether that’s the beauty of an apple core after you slice it, and it makes that wonderful star shape, or a leaf-littered lawn in the spring before it’s been raked up.
“It’s also faith-based in some ways. As a Christian, part of my faith is a belief in rejuvenation. Giving these specimens new life echoes the new life I hope to have one day.”
The Murray County High School graduate always aspired to be an artist, but went into nursing as a fallback option. After what she said were some atrocious experiences during her clinicals, she rethought those plans and moved to St. Cloud to enroll in the fine arts program at St. Cloud State University with the intention of becoming an art teacher.
Needing to work, she also took a job in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Cloud Hospital and wound up enjoying her experience so much she stayed in pediatric nursing for over 20 years.
But she continued taking art classes and creating art of her own on the side. In 2018, she stepped away from the medical field and began working as a deafblind intervener at Oakhill Elementary School. That position segued into her present position as an art instructor at nearby Madison Elementary.
“I absolutely love learning,” she said. “Honestly, if I could be a full-time student that’s probably what I’d do. Often, I’ll see something and wonder. Then I’ll explore further, and it leads me to something else.
“I’m always interested in trying new things.”