I make films, songs, objects, paintings and choreographies; chasing and deconstructing utopian feelings.

I use embodied, intuitive language and vulnerable communication.

I make art in search of spaces where fantasy and reality blur, utility and ornament are equally important, and where people can linger on transcendent moments of transition and slippage.

Kyla Kegler (B.1985) explores themes of fantasy, relationship, pleasure, and purpose through painting, sculpture, performance, and film. Her films and performances often choreograph groups engaged in tasks that blend emotional and physical labor.

Kegler’s practice is informed by her work with Bread and Puppet Theater (Vermont) and her role as co-founder of the underground theater Zuhause (Berlin). She holds an MA in Solo/Dance/Authorship from the Art University of Berlin and an MFA in Studio Art from the University at Buffalo.

Her past projects include Feel Me, a multi-modal investigation of the mindfulness industry exhibited at Box Gallery, Canisius College, and Big Orbit; The House on Fire Show, a teen web-drama about the climate crisis screened at the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art; Mountains, a puppet soap opera performed at Artpark, Torn Space Theater, and Undercurrent Gallery (Brooklyn); The Frontier, a performance about cults and community; and R.d.f.t.c. (Relationships don’t finish, they change), an installation of video and sculpture exhibited at the Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, NY (2024).

Her current project, The Accumulation of Meaning Over Time (All Parts Sold Separately), funded by the UB Humanities Communities of Care Grant, includes a film, ceramic objects, and paintings. It explores early life influences—such as Mattel toy commercials—on world-building as utopian fantasy and a strategy for control amid unmanageable chaos.

I Got My Cult

When I don’t know where to go

When I can’t see what’s truly special about me

When I don’t feel like anything is real

I got my cult

I fantasize about heaven it sounds so fun and full of ice cream bars

My addictive personality makes me crave new more but if I’m close with you’re all I want

I wanted a girl best friend so we could hang out and gossip together

I needed to be wearing just the right purple jacket

Relationships don’t finish, they change

I got my cult

I wanna get to that place where I don’t have the strength 

To hide anything

I got my cult