Kelly McConnell

My paintings are about time, a systematic record of time, and representations of my life through an allegorical selection of colors. My paintings are realistic in their expression in that they are about me. Rather than a narrative, I have painted a set of emotional record and a collection of paths and journeys. Reflected in the paint, I see through fog, sheets of water, or a veil, depicted with multiple layers of color or marks. These layers are how I experience my life. The accumulation of marks become the painting.

What is happening in our nation, and my disgust with our current government officials, are at odds with the serene systems I once embraced in my studio. I have found that I am less able to compartmentalize the world around me to make sense of it. Recently, representations of my own body have emerged in my mark marking, and I have let them stay. I have teased these images off the canvas surface and rearranged them in the environment. In this life, when we now all work and try to make meaning, these paintings represent my own disequilibrium as an artist in this time.

Follow Kelly on Instagram: @kellymcconnellartlife