Kelly Ahern is a painter, photographer, and concept artist. She was born and raised in Cranston, Rhode Island, and received her MA in Visual Communication from the University of Rhode Island. During that time she wrote her thesis “My Selfie-Image: An Artist’s Multimedia Perspective to Self-Discovery”(2019) on themes of body image and human connection in the digital age while exploring mental wellness through a collection of intricate figure-focused paintings. It was through this paper she discovered her passion for painting. More specifically communicating through art. Seeing every piece as a projection of her thoughts, feelings, and experiences that surround her psyche.
Kelly’s paintings blend the figurative with an uncompromising sense of abstraction in ways that highlight both the vulnerability and resiliency of the human form. Growing up and creating since she could pick up a pencil, she began to love the human figure as it embodies purest form self expression and exploration. Fascinated with this idea as the body as a self, she explores the cause and effect of shifting identities and relationships as they occur within technological spaces, creating connections that speak to memory, metaphor, and perception. Her practice is a constant, borderline obsession for perfection, and in turn produces a collection of dissected female experiences. A visual journal on canvas.
Ahern’s work exists in the space between pure self-hatred and a blinding passion for beauty. Using the language of color and collage paired with forceful yet precisely controlled brushwork her paintings bring an appealing strength to compositions that convey a wealth of emotion.
“I aim to share the unspoken turmoil of what it takes to create such raw sensual imagery. I crave to be vulnerable within my art in hopes to create conversations, shift perspectives, and connect with the world in a way that fuels my soul.”
With this concept as her golden thread, Ahern weaves rich life experiences into paintings that create connections between figuration and surrounding symbolism. The resulting dialogue between form, composition, and color is an ever-evolving conversation.
