Get to Know Kelly

Kelly R Johnston is a sculptor based in Chapel Hill, NC. Originally from Washington DC, she completed a bachelor’s in anthropology and in studio art at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Johnston has exhibited nationally and internationally, including Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Flux Factory in NYC, the Target Gallery in Alexandria, VA and has shown extensively in the southwest. Her work explores inherent tensions between emotional and physical discomfort. By using natural materials on large scales to create sculpture and installation, she hopes her viewers connect and address issues in their own lives. Her use of identity objects, such as hair and teeth, can be seen as a common materials throughout her work, along with incorporating mixed-media approaches to create visceral environments.

​"Johnston's art is provocative, politically engaged, and makes sublime use of experimental materials. Her work is equal parts challenging, emotionally affecting, and intimate. "
-Ben Clancy

News

Orange County Arts Commission awarded Kelly the 2018 Artist Project Grant!

Kelly's work Cultural Techniques won 2nd place in the Durham Art Guild's 64th Annual Juried Exhibition. On display through September 13th!

Kelly is the Emerging Regional Artist Residency at the Artspace now through June 2019 - visit her in Raleigh!

(in)Visible Organ, Kelly's first exhibition at the Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University opens February 1 and runs through March 3. 

Art in Motion

You can read Art in Motion Kelly's blog about artist life and her journey this fall during her artist residency at Artspace

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