BLUE – Kelsey Stephenson
July 28 - September 14, 2025, in McMullen Gallery
8440-112 St NW
Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. -7 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
JOIN US for the Opening Reception Thursday, August 7, 7-9 p.m.
In Blue, artist Kelsey Stephenson invites you to experience the healing presence of Alberta’s glacial landscapes. Through the cyanotype process, a photographic technique developed with water, these works carry the vivid blues of melting ice and flowing rivers. Moving among large silk panels and delicate prints on paper, you’ll find yourself immersed in the cycles of freeze and thaw, light and shadow, stillness, and flow.
The imagery traces the path of the North Saskatchewan River from its headwaters in Banff National Park, drawing inspiration from the surrounding terrain of the Athabasca and Saskatchewan Glaciers. While glaciers tell stories of loss, they also feed the veins of our planet—melting into rivers, nourishing ecosystems, and reminding us that even in retreat, there is regeneration. This work holds space for renewal. It asks you to consider what it means to be well within yourself and the natural world. As you move through these layered, suspended pieces, there is time to breathe, to remember, and to reconnect with places that carry meaning and comfort.
The detailed paper works echo traditional darkroom photography, capturing subtle, fleeting moments that speak to the fragility and resilience of ice. The flowing silk panels evoke the sensation of glacial movement and river ice, inviting you to walk among them as if wandering through a memory of winter. We encourage you to view these pieces from all sides.
From urgency to awareness, from grief to grace, Stephenson’s Blue reminds us that the landscapes around you, and the water that flows through them, hold the power to nourish, sustain, and heal.
About the Artist
Kelsey Stephenson (she/her) is a Canadian artist and educator based in Edmonton, within Treaty 6 Territory. Her large-scale multimedia installations explore water, ice, and land, often drawing from printmaking traditions to reflect on ecological change. Much of her work centers on the prairie watershed and glacial systems of Alberta, inviting viewers into immersive encounters with place. She teaches printmaking at the University of Alberta and is an active member of Edmonton’s artist-run communities. Her practice bridges art and environmental awareness, creating space for reflection, care, and connection.
https://kstephenson.ca/
