Kelly M O'Brien

Kelly M O’Brien is a visual artist working mainly in sculpture and installation. Her work explores themes of care and repair related to climate change and biodiversity.

My art practice is a platform for sharing ideas and catalyzing action around the potential for materials and ways of making that do less harm to land, creatures, and community.

Interest in developing a more sustainable practice led her to working with mostly plant-based and biodegradable materials. The materials she works with – mycelium, biomaterials, foraged – are symbolic of interconnectedness, agency, resilience, repair, and impermanence. In her work, the medium is the message, sparking curiosity and conversation with audiences it reaches.

A correlated theme has emerged from Kelly’s research around the idea of bioempathy and how connection to nature can foster a desire to protect and act on its behalf. If “attention is the beginning of devotion” (Mary Oliver), it is also a form of care.

Kelly uses her practice to offer a glimpse of hopeful flourishing. Beyond studio and gallery, where can this work engage in a praxis of care? How might we foster a web of care for land, people, and creatures? She is inspired by the actions and initiatives fostered by Culture Declares, a UK-based movement that is growing worldwide.

Awards: Gilbert Bayes Award, 2023; Hauser & Wirth CalArts Postgraduate Residency shortlist 2020; HIX Prize finalist 2019

Residencies: Byrdcliffe Woodstock May-Sept 2023; PADA Lisbon 2022; The Studio Innovation Hub, Bath Spa University 2022

Grants & commissions (2019-2023): Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Arts Council England, Gane Trust, Harbut Trust, HPC Community Fund, Somerset Art Works

MFA (Distinction), 2019, Bath Spa University; Staedelschule Adult Academy, Frankfurt, 2013-14

Exhibited in the UK, US, France, Germany

Represented by BAU Gallery, Beacon, NY; co-founder, Bath Art Depot; co-curator, A Gathering of Unasked Possibility, a collaborative project fostering active hope through creative practitioners

Also, since 2015 I have run PaperJoy Studio