Born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas, Slater Reid Sousley studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, (SAIC), earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May 2017. Continuing his arts education, Sousley received a Master of Arts in Art degree from Eastern Illinois University in May 2019, earning the Distinguished Graduate Award and the King-Mertz Award of Excellence. Sousley currently splits his time working between his in-home studio in Overland Park, Kansas and his family’s farm in Central Missouri.

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My narrative work is the expression of my avid cellphone-photography. The paintings act as a documentation; the date recorded within their titles leans into their diary-esque nature. With each painting I reckon with the world around me, and often discover a reflection of myself and my family. I believe that the care I put into painting subjects of great personal attachment, such as the old wooden corner fencepost my grandfather built fifty years ago, now overrun with wild roses and a massive hedge tree, will imbue enough emotion as to radiate universal sentimentality. Furthermore, on a purely emotional level, I felt compelled to capture – with that same level of care – the candid tenderness of a momma cow drinking at the pond with her yearling and newborn bull calf, bathed in the pink light of a setting summer sun.