KEL MUR
www.kelmur.com Kelly Murray likes junk. She grew up in New Jersey surrounded by antiques, machinery, and stockpiles of seemingly meaningless objects kept as a result of her parents’ collective sentimentality. In college she did things like graduate Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Arts in Studio Art from Monmouth University’s Honors Program and achieve the Creativity in Studio Art Award. Murray’s work also took on a strong feminist presence during this time and she has shown pieces of that body of work in galleries along the New Jersey Shore and in New York City.
Currently, Murray gains momentum from her continuous exposure to graffiti, deteriorating buildings, man versus nature, and how well she plays with others. Often, this manifests into rescuing trash from the street and examining its potential for new life. She also sometimes steals her neighbors' newspapers and compulsively saves cardboard. Murray spends many hours staring at her collection of modern human artifacts waiting for their connections to emerge. Much of her assemblage work takes on mandala or shrine-like characteristics while illustrating the world spinning in her mind. Concerns about femininity and the commodification of the body are regular working themes of hers, and will occasionally rely on photography or painting for their final execution. Murray currently resides in New Orleans, Louisiana because it overflows with inspiration and great music. Plus, it has the best garbage. |