Artwork Description: "At the end of 2020 and start of 2021, I commenced an artist in residence at the Courthouse Gallery + Studio in Port Hedland. My work consisted of a series of paintings created both en plein air and within the gallery’s studio. The paintings were made in a series of locations from Karinjini, and Point Samson in the Pilbara to Broome and the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley, as well as the local area of Port Hedland.
Artist Bio: My creative practice is grounded in my passion for painting the Australian landscape. This process involves a combination of plein air painting and studio painting from reference images. My studio consists of my immediate surroundings and I respond to the light, colour and forms of the land, while giving consideration to the composition of the completed painting. My plein air paintings in acrylic have come to inform the larger works on canvas painted in my studio. While painting on these larger canvases, I reflect on the atmospheric conditions I experienced outdoors; heat, wind, cold, rain and the memory of my time spent observing and analysing the landscape in front of me.
Kelley has completed a Master of Visual Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, and been short listed for a number of art prizes including The Jury Art Prize, The Fleurieu Peninsula Water Prize, The Paddington Art Prize, The Mosman Art Prize, The ANL Maritime Art Prize, The City of Albany Art Prize, The Glover Prize, The Cossack Art Award, The Hedland Art Award, the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery Research Week Art Prize and most recently the Art Piece Gallery 30x30 Art Prize.
Kelley has been an Artist in Residence at: The North Midlands Project, Carnamah, The Courthouse Gallery + Studio, Port Hedland, The Gate Keepers Cottage, Police Point, Mornington Peninsula, The Melbourne Aquarium.
