Kalee Appleton is a photography-based artist and educator living in Dallas, Texas. Originally from Hobbs, NM, she attended Texas Tech University and received a BFA in Photography in 2005. Shortly after graduated she worked as a commercial corporate and aviation photographer before attending Texas Woman’s University, where she received an MFA in Photography in 2014. Currently, she teaches Photography as an adjunct professor at the University of North Texas. Kalee’s work deals with the digital technologies and their effects on society and the landscape. Kalee is a member of the oldest Texas art collective, 500X, and is represented by Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art.
Surrounds
My current photographic project, Surrounds, explores the objecthood and history of the photographic backdrop. Backdrops consisting of photographs of idealized landscapes, utopian worlds or romanticized environments act as objects of transportation. Similar to most photography, these backdrops’ purpose is to exist as a false contextual object in the aid of producing a flawless, innocently, cliché portrait. In this series, the object of a photographic backdrop is transformed into something that it was never meant to be, a sculptural subject. By incorporating hints of photographic studio equipment and digital aesthetic fads, I visually examine nostalgia associated with the use of photographic backdrops as well as the contemporary equivalent to the backdrop, digital post production by subtly incorporating humorous digital trends.
To view more of Kalee’s work please visit her website.