ARTIST STATEMENT

We all have a story; secrets, experiences and deep emotions that can be difficult to articulate or express. I am fascinated by the multiple layers of identity - personal and cultural - how they interplay, conflict and create an understanding of self and the world. Painting allows me to engage and express, to process and give form to the complexities of my own textured mind.

BIOGRAPHY

Kelly Williams has been a full-time contemporary artist and educator in Portland Oregon for 20 years. She is an Artist instructor for R&F Handmade Paints teaching regularly a multitude of workshops. She uses multiple mediums in her painting process, her large scale encaustic abstracts are deeply layered, energetic mark-making and textured expressions of internal emotional mapping. Her figurative work explores the more subtle dichotomy of narrative identity, cultural influences and personal expression.

With a background in psychology and social work, Kelly found art to be a powerful tool in helping facilitate communication around that which is unspeakable. Her approach is an extension of the visual narrative as a method of psychological processing. As a full time artist, she incorporates similar methods in her own process as well as working with individuals and small groups in a studio setting. 

As a recipient of multiple grants from RACC (Regional Arts and Culture Council) she has developed community projects focused on giving disenfranchised communities access to art in a healing capacity. These projects also engaged the wider community in conversation regarding mental health education through post-project exhibitions and discussions. She has also received the Ford Family Foundation grant and has been a featured speaker and educator at both the International Encaustic Conference as well as The International Encaustic Retreat.

Kelly is collected and exhibited locally and nationally, has curated large-scale exhibitions at P5 (Portland Center for the Performing Arts), and been featured in multiple publications, podcasts and blogs. Some of these include Art in the Pearl Magazine, R&F Handmade Paint Blog and the Deeper Pulse Podcast. Through radio and tv interviews she has shared her unique approach and experience in using art as a healing tool affecting individuals and their communities

Kelly continues to educate and mentor both amateur and professional artists, blending multiple methods and materials with a narrative psychology approach to inform her personal work, group workshops and private sessions.