Kelsey Birsa uses detailed rendering and abstract marks to explore everyday moments of her communities. She combines traditional oil painting techniques with the contemporary use of mixed media to reflect on the human experience and the desire to feel connected. In the current exhibition, ‘Living Room’, Birsa employs interior design elements like furniture and a hand painted mural to set a domestic environment that contrasts with the exterior scenes in her paintings. 

To help counteract feelings of anxiety and depression that the pandemic has created in herself and many others, Birsa spent much of the past two years outdoors. She then painted scenes from camping with her friends and family around the stunning Oregon landscape. The hand painted mural background features iconic northwest plants like ferns, salal, and thimbleberries. Experiencing the outdoors, such as foraging the plants depicted in the mural, has become one of the few social interactions that felt safe and normal during the pandemic.