Complex Systems: Tensile Strength by Amelia Key

Amelia Key creates colorful sculpture made with everyday items like rubber bands, straws, bubble wrap, pool noodles and other things we usually just throw-away. In her new exhibition, Complex Systems: Tensile Strength, Key presents several site-specific pieces in K Space Contemporary’s Clower Gallery.

Inspired by the plethora of plastic objects available at a whim, Amelia Key purchases, collects, and finds materials wherever she goes. Through this process of collecting, she imbues typically disposable objects with a sense of preciousness. These items are chosen for their bright colors, plasticity, shape, and texture, which she then alters and re-purposes to create new forms. Familiar objects become three-dimensional methods of mark-making in space. Through color exploration and repetition, these objects transcend their purpose, ultimately turning the mundane into the magical.

Key, originally from Dothan, Alabama, received her BA in Art from Belhaven University in 2011. After graduation, she worked at a fine craft gallery and a stained-glass studio in Jackson, Mississippi, while exhibiting her work regionally in the Southeast. Amelia’s work has taken her steadily west as she began her graduate studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2020 which led to opportunities including being selected as one of the Mid-South Sculpture Alliance 2022 Dianne Komminsk Scholarship recipients, and creating a public art installation featuring 16 suspended sculptures for the TAMU-CC Performing Arts Center. She has continued to explore the potential of everyday materials and site-responsive installations at the University of Oklahoma, where she recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in December 2023.