Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy: Pardon My Creep

Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy: Pardon My Creep by Aline SmithsonFebruary 12, 2020

©Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy

Since Friday is Valentine’s Day, we are sharing a project where vernacular photographs and contemporary social media meet in humorous and revealing ways. Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy have just launched their zine, Pardon My Creep that pairs found photos of couples with messages they have received from men via online dating apps. “A voyeuristic investigation of desire, disconnect, and the performance of the self.”

©Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy, Cover for Pardon My Creep

The zine comes in a Trade edition of 200 copies and a Limited edition of 30 copies (signed by artists, includes a unique photograph + anonymous message from our archive). The zine can be purchased here.

©Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy

PARDON MY CREEP is an investigation of intimacy, desire, and the performance of the self in the digital age. Weaving together found photographs of couples alongside messages they have received from men via online dating apps, artists Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy explore contemporary notions of relationships, both real and imagined. Each unanswered message offers a glimpse into the effect of digital mediation on human connection. The emotions conveyed in their words range from sad, thoughtful, bored, aggressive, and desperate. Some messages feel cold and impersonal, like automated form letters; others are inundated with aggressive, masculine bravado. Some men seem to genuinely want to connect. Placed together in conversation, their words become a surrogate for the connection the other is seeking. The photographs were purchased online or in flea markets. Forsaken or forgotten by their subjects, they no longer function as personal mementos. Instead they serve as visual aides to describe the intimacy the messages are hoping to produce.

©Kellye Eisworth and Britland Tracy

Kellye Eisworth (b. 1990 Baton Rouge, LA) is a Los Angeles-based artist utilizing the photographic medium to explore themes of memory, pain, vulnerability, and the concepts of innate and constructed identity. Employing the conventions of traditional studio portraiture, her work focuses on the human body as a cultural and individual text to be read. Though often entering into a dialogue about larger social norms, much of her work is rooted in the autobiographical; whether through direct self- exploration or through empathetic encounters with others, her artistic practice allows her to interpret and understand her own personal history as well as the world around her. Eisworth has exhibited her work across the country, including First Street Gallery in New York, NY; the MPLS Photo Center in Minneapolis, MN; and The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO. A Louisiana native, she received her BFA in photography from Louisiana State University in 2012 and an MFA in interdisciplinary media arts at the University of Colorado in 2016.

Britland Tracy (b. 1990 Tacoma, WA) is a visual artist from the Pacific Northwest who combines photographs with text to illuminate the intricacies of human connection and discord. Her work has been exhibited at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA, the Davis Orton Gallery in Hudson, NY, the Lucie Foundation in Los Angeles, CA, the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, WA, and the CU Art Museum in Boulder, CO, as well as a number of other experimental and collaborative spaces. Her first photo-book, Show Me Yours, was published in 2018, and her second artist publication, Pardon My Creep, is forthcoming in 2019. Her first solo exhibition, Rupture, will open at Rule Gallery in Marfa, TX, in April 2020. She received a BA in French and Art History in 2012 from the University of Washington, a Certificate of Fine Art Photography in 2014 from the Photographic Center Northwest, and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices in 2017 from the University of Colorado, where she continues to develop and teach courses remotely while traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada.