Materiality of Care

Kelly M O’Brien, Materiality of Care, Upstate Art Weekend at Byrdcliffe, installation view. 2023

Kelly M O'Brien, As Well As Possible. Foraged wood, cast mycelium, wool, cotton cord. 5 x 12.5 x 6.5 inches. ©2023

Kelly M O’Brien, Re:matter . Foraged wood, cast mycelium, wool, cotton cord. 3 x 14 x 7 inches. ©2023

Kelly M O’Brien, Materiality of Care, Upstate Art Weekend at Byrdcliffe, detail. 2023

Kelly M O’Brien, Materiality of Care . Foraged wood, cast mycelium, wool, cotton cord. 86 x 12 x 6 inches. ©2023

Kelly M O’Brien, Materiality of Care, Upstate Art Weekend at Byrdcliffe, installation view. 2023

Kelly M O’Brien, Materiality of Care, Upstate Art Weekend at Byrdcliffe, installation view. 2023 Image: Mariah Majakey

Precariousness, care, and repair are themes I’ve been exploring since 2018 from my MFA research. Having recently relocated from 12 years overseas back to the US, this summer is an opportunity to recover from the past few years of transition, pandemic anxiety, and distance. I’m rehoming myself and my art practice in the Hudson Valley, NY, and in the process, coexisting and entangled with the more-than human beings that my home and studio are immersed in.

Working with biomaterials (mostly plant-based biodegradable ingredients), I am developing objects and installations that communicate shelter, interconnectedness, and innovative approaches to care and repair for our natural world. Resettling life in a new place, this series is a meditation on what sanctuary and home mean.

I am interested in using my practice to offer a glimpse of what is possible, to catalyze this conversation, to add to its momentum. How are these ideas accessible and scalable for people to expand on? How might we increase our connectedness to nature, fostering a web of care for land, people, and creatures?

This series title is inspired by Matters of Care by Maria Puig de la Bellacasa.