Small Pleasures: Kelly Belter’s Artful Eye for the Everyday

For Kelly Belter, the beauty of illustration lies in life’s smallest, most overlooked details. A Seoul-based illustrator and printmaker, Kelly transforms the mundane into the meaningful through her vibrant Risograph prints and publications. Her work captures everyday moments—a slice of fruit, a quiet gaze, or a vintage stamp—and imbues them with depth and intrigue. “Life’s smaller, subtler details and the most mundane moments can often become objects to be gathered, then arranged into thoughtful pairings at a later date,” she says. This collector’s mindset defines her artistic process, where every scene is an opportunity for storytelling.

Kelly’s artistic journey began in Dallas, where she grew up, but it was her move to Korea that transformed her casual passion for drawing into a serious career. Initially teaching after college, she found the time and space in Seoul to refine her craft. Enrolling in a graduate program, she transitioned from digital illustration to the hands-on world of printmaking, falling in love with techniques like silkscreens and risographs. “The physical process of hand-crafting each image is really satisfying,” Kelly shares. “I like the visual effect of bold, bright color blocking within an image.”

Her independent print studio, Polite Company Press, serves as both a creative hub and a platform for her limited-edition artist books and prints. From her studio, Kelly creates works that balance playful textures and simplified forms, often using a limited palette to construct layered, puzzle-like compositions. “Arranging textures and color blocks like a puzzle is incredibly satisfying, and using a limited palette helps me condense and simplify detailed scenes,” she explains.

Kelly’s fascination with small-scale formats like stamps, vintage matchbooks, and coins further shapes her perspective. She’s captivated by the challenge of creating art for tiny spaces and the intimacy such formats bring. Her publication Small Pleasures and Risograph calendar exemplify this ethos, transforming the everyday into something extraordinary.

But Kelly’s work isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s a quiet rebellion against traditional representations of women in art. Drawing inspiration from 19th-century Orientalist paintings by artists like Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Kelly flips the script. “Ingres often used the perspective of a window looking into a room of women,” she notes. “I hope to present women from a different perspective, grounding them within the room, often with a window behind them. The women I draw are self-concerned. They are looking at themselves, rather than being looked at by someone else.”

Her subjects exude a quiet strength, their expressions ambiguous yet self-assured. They’re not there to be objectified but to occupy space on their terms. This intentional flatness—heightened by floral patterns and static compositions—draws viewers into a world where women exist beyond the gaze, fully immersed in their own lives.

Kelly’s attention to detail extends to the objects populating her prints. Each element is carefully chosen to suggest a story, often inspired by her walks around Seoul. In Oranges and Antibodies, for example, props like acupuncture hand sculptures, pill boxes, and Hallabong oranges juxtapose personal wellness with the chaos of the external world, reflecting a nuanced take on modern self-care.

Looking ahead, Kelly continues to push the boundaries of printmaking, working screen-printed zines and experimenting with new media, eager to expand her creative repertoire. Her work, whether on a tote bag or a limited-edition print, offers a unique perspective that resonates deeply with those who encounter it. As Kelly herself puts it, “Even the smallest of formats can become sites for joyful drawings.”

Through her art, Kelly Belter reminds us that the smallest details often hold the most meaning—and that beauty can be found in the everyday, if only we take the time to look.