I (Abby Kiesa) am a watercolor artist and natural pigment creator based in Prince George's County, MD (on the border of the District of Columbia).

In a region defined by non-stop networking, by partisan competition, and by the question “what do you do?”, I bring a connection to natural places and moments for letting go. While a lot of queer art is justifiably provocative, I am bringing breath and spaciousness to watercolors, to queer art, and my communities.

I want to create spaciousness, breath, and awe for people. Sometimes this means admitting the truth: that we are messy, the world is messy. Being truthful about that messiness has helped me feel seen and let me breathe out. To that end, my watercolor abstraction embraces messiness, lets go of total control to the fluidity of watercolors, and uses big strokes as if representing our aliveness (e.g., my Fireweed paintings). The way color soaks into paper (e.g., my painting Enmeshed) helps our body shift down as we release the tension we often hold. And, pigments move and separate (e.g., my paintings Exhale and The Casings of a Cleaner Future), as the water reminds us that we can move and be free and feel alive.

I intend for my art to soothe and to encourage people to look more closely at the texture of paintings and at the place that is around us. Most often for me, this place is the DMV and the Chesapeake region, which have ecosystems, histories (e.g., color field), and materials (e.g., natural pigments) to be in awe of. My art and workshops refocus us on process as an alternative to achievement culture. As we lean into awe and wonder, we are resurfacing ourselves as a part of (not separate from) nature.

Right now, many of us are regularly being asked what we stand for and what kind of communities we want to live in. In that context, my art process provides me and others moments to literally and figuratively exhale and opportunities that enable our imagination for more just and thriving communities. Art can help us meet this moment.