Artist statement

My abstract color field paintings invite the viewer to step into a lush, translucent world of color. Drawn to the beauty of layered transparent hues from an early age, I use sheer color, overlapping forms, gestural brush work, organic forms, and repeating motifs that flow and intersect, resulting in delicious new hues and increased tonal depth. Contrast is important in my work as well; hard edges are in conversation with areas of soft gradation, while vibrant, neon hues pop against muted tints and natural, raw canvas.

I’m especially inspired by the canvas staining techniques and paintings of Helen Frankenthaler and Washington Color School artists Morris Louis and Kenneth Victor Young. I pair that inspiration with constant experimentation and manipulation of materials, developing new processes as a natural outcome.

Most recently, I have been working with vibrantly colored (often fluorescent) acrylics, which I thin down and paint directly onto raw canvas. Because the surface hasn’t been primed, the paint soaks into the fibers and “stains” the canvas, imbuing it with depth and energy from within.

Resume/CV

Solo exhibitions:

National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, West Gallery
Kelly Irvine, January 7 – April 7, 2024
Curator: Lillian Fitzgerald

Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
Spotlight: Kelly Irvine, July 6 - 16, 2023
Curator: Abbey Allison McClain

Selected group exhibitions:

Maryland Art Place, Baltimore MD
Under 2500, November 22 - 29, 2024
Juror: Maryland Art Place

University of Mary Washington Galleries, Fredericksburg VA
Mid Atlantic New Painting Biennial, November 7, 2024 - January 19, 2025
Juror: Heather Hakimzadeh

Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC
Iteration/Reiteration, August 1 - September 2, 2024
Jurors: Addoley Dzegede, Christopher Kardambikis, Roya Amirsoleymani

Martha Spak Gallery, Washington, DC
Symphony of Colors, October 18 - November 28, 2023
Juror: Lesley Duncan

Delaplaine Arts Center, Frederick, MD
National Juried Exhibition, May 6 - July 9, 2023
Juror: Foon Sham

Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
Out of Order Benefit Auction, April 21, 2023
Curator: Caitlin Gill

Columbia Art Center, Columbia, MD
Visionary Women (invitational exhibition), March 8-31, 2023
Curator: Liz Henzey
Juror: Antonia Ramis Miguel

Yellow Barn Gallery, Glen Echo, MD
2022 Friends of Yellow Barn Juried Exhibition, Dec. 3-18, 2022
Juror: Ingrid Christensen

Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, MD
2022 Annual Labor Day Art Show, Sept. 2-5, 2022
Juror: Zoma Wallace

Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
The Big Show, July 16-August 21, 2021
Curator: Joy Davis

Yellow Barn Gallery, Glen Echo, MD (virtual)
2020 Friends of Yellow Barn Juried Exhibition, Dec. 12, 2020, March 31, 2021
Juror: Harry Cooper, Head Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Recognition:

-Honorable mention from juror Harry Cooper, senior curator and head of modern art at the National Gallery of Art, for “Cabochon” in the 2020 Friends of Yellow Barn annual members show.

-2023 Maryland State Arts Council Artist Grant recipient

Education and related background:

Kelly will be a Studio Art MFA candidate at Towson University starting in January 2025. Previously, she studied graphic design and fine art at University of Maryland, and has also studied painting at Yellow Barn Studios and Montpelier Arts Center in Maryland, as well as at the Washington Studio School in D.C.

After working for over 25 years as a graphic designer and art director, in 2019 Kelly left the profession to concentrate on abstract painting and freelance textile print design.

In 2023, Kelly stepped back from textile print design to joyfully focus full-time on painting.