Kelly M O’Brien is a visual artist working mainly in sculpture and installation. Her work explores themes of care and repair related to biodiversity and the natural world.
Her interest in developing a more sustainable practice led her to work with biomaterials. Her current work collaborates with nature, including wildlife and plantlife. Inspired by the remedial properties of plant-based and biodegradable elements, she investigates their potential through materiality and form.
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 for land, people, and creatures? Her work has been shown in the UK, Europe, and the US. She won the Royal Society of Sculptors Gilbert Bayes Award in 2023 and has an MFA from Bath Spa University, UK. She recently settled in the Lower Hudson Valley after living overseas for twelve years.
A Spell Against Despair, BAU Gallery, June 2024. Image: Charles Purvis
A Spell Against Despair, BAU Gallery, June 2024
The Loveliness of Being Animal (2024). Reishi fungi, mycelium, glass, faux fur, wood. 58 x 12 x 8 inches
Flora Fauna Funga 1 (2024). Cast mycelium, wool, faux fur. 16 x 12 x 4 inches
Materiality of Care, Upstate Art Weekend 2023, Byrdcliffe Art Colony, Woodstock, NY
Protective Nature. Cast mycelium, wool, wood. 160 x 30 x 30 cm ©2022
Ecotopia Conversation. Cast mycelium, stone, wool. Byrdcliffe Residency, Woodstock NY, Summer 2023
Pollinator Sanctuary. Cast mycelium, wood, wool, cotton cord, natural materials. 2022
Rudera. Wood, found object (plastic), ice plant. 44 x 100 x 113 cm ©2022