How does an artist connect to the world while working alone? In this film, artist Keltie Ferris begins a new series of abstract paintings in her Bushwick, Brooklyn studio. Painting in isolation, Ferris discusses both the pleasures and anxieties of working in solitude. Throughout the film, Ferris looks outside of her daily studio process for connections to the world, taking stock of viewer's responses to her work, finding inspiration in both books and the urban environment, and situating her paintings in an art historical tradition. Applying oil paint with various techniques—brush, palette knife, and a spray gun—Ferris builds up layers of marks over several weeks into complex shapes and patterns. Asserting that abstraction is about "trying to undo the nameable things in life," Ferris describes her paintings as being about "seeing through to other worlds."

Keltie Ferris (b. 1977, Louisville, Kentucky, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

CREDITS | "New York Close Up" Created & Produced by: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Editor: Joaquin Perez & Mary Ann Toman. Cinematography: Rafael Moreno Salazar & Ava Wiland. Sound: Nicholas Lindner, Wesley Miller & Ava Wiland. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Production Assistant: Paulina V. Ahlstrom, Don Edler & Maren Miller. Design & Grahics: Crux Studio & Open. Artwork: Keltie Ferris. An Art21 Workshop Production. © Art21, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.

"New York Close Up" is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support provided by The 1896 Studios & Stages.

For more info: http://www.art21.org/newyorkcloseup