artist statement
The spectacle of an explosion deserves the context of its residue. Fireworks are designed to be consumed in an instant. I reframe them, archiving ephemeral bursts of light through their physical remnants — a ghost of an event. The volatility of the moment amplifies the stillness that follows.
I use small ground fireworks and other combustible materials, working with what’s left—smoke transfer, burn marks, tactile char, cloudy washes of color inscribed through flame. The practice emerged from a childhood fascination with fireworks. A decade of play followed by a decade of disciplined work with these materials has sharpened this unbroken interest into an artistic craft. The practice spans drawing, installation, videography, and performance.
Residue has an aroma—sulfur and char hang in the air. On wood panels, the grain glows through open areas, functioning almost as a light source. A dense, granular buildup sits within atmospheric fields of color, arriving through combustion chemistry. Diffuse metallic smoke transfer contrasts with arcing burn patterns inscribed by spinning fireworks, marks carrying kinetic memory. On black paper, ashy residue appears as light against void, and fireworks burn holes through scorched substrate. Light passing through these irregular holes projects a clean star pattern onto the surrounding walls. What was subtracted from the paper is added to the room.
From a distance, the work reads as a cloudy field of movement, vast and celestial. Up close, the same surface becomes particulate, grainy char, and smoke deposit. The cosmic resemblance is material evidence. The image is the direct trace of a small explosion and the likeness of a massive one. The viewer stands inches from what resembles light-years, and the immense becomes intimate as residue reveals what spectacle alone cannot.
Biography
Kyle Selley (b. 1992, Kansas City, Missouri) is an artist working across drawing, installation, performance, and video. His practice centers on residue, specifically what fireworks and combustible materials leave behind, framing the explosive event through its aftermath. His work explores topics surrounding the contemporary sublime, the archive, craft, and spectacle.
Selley has maintained a relationship with fireworks since childhood, long before incorporating them into a fine art practice. Through a decade of controlled ignitions, observation, interdisciplinary study, and formal refinement, a body of work has emerged, expanding across disciplines.
He holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, studied sculpture and ceramics at the University of Tasmania, and received his MFA from the University of Florida, where he served as Instructor of Record in sculpture. His teaching integrates fabrication, material experimentation, chance, and conceptual development within contemporary art discourse. He founded In-Haus Habitat, an artist-run project space in Gainesville.
Selley has presented over ten solo exhibitions across the Midwest and Southeast, with recent presentations at Foundry Art Centre in St. Louis and 4Most Gallery in Gainesville. Recent juried exhibitions include the Wiregrass Museum of Art, the University of Montana, and the University of North Alabama. His work has been featured in more than ten publications. Selley has sat on panels and performed with arts collectives at the Harn Museum of Art and Santa Fe College. His short films have received awards at Chroma Art Film Festival in Miami and Avalonia Festival of Short Films in Atlantic Beach.
