BIO
Kelly O’Neal is an award-winning visual artist, actress, filmmaker, and educator. She studied at N.C. School of the Arts and Florida State University where she earned a BFA in Theatre.
As a mixed media artist, she layers family stories and ancestral myth into the very DNA of her visual narratives, exploring themes such as the ethereal nature of memory, messages from The Divine, and the human spirit’s delight in liberty.
Her work has been exhibited in galleries, and commissioned for the covers of books and periodicals. She is the co-illustrator of Capes & Cowls, The Adventure Board Game.
Kelly has acted professionally in film, TV, theatre, and stand-up comedy. She was a founding member of the 90’s glam/funk musical stage show Superchick & Goodpussy, and was a pioneer in the early days of YouTube content creation with her web series, The Gilda Sue Rosenstern Computer Internet Show. Her award-winning film Gilda Sue Rosenstern: The Motion Picture! is now available on Amazon. She continues to collaborate with Droom Vox Theatre, co-producing and editing the ongoing short film series based on the work of Robin Spriggs.
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STATEMENT
We build our lives piece by piece— sometimes on purpose, and sometimes not. Like collage artists repurposing images and transforming context, we can create our own reality by looking at our lives from different perspectives. Collage is a reminder that not everything is quite what it seems, and it’s an invitation to look deeper at the wonder all around us.
My mixed media canvases are layers of painted transparencies, magazine clippings, and sometimes even pieces of my grandparents’s love letters, giving a personal layer to each picture. I may also use paint, ink, and pastels sticks. There are often half-hidden images just beneath the surface, peeking through other papers as well through washes of paint. I hope it encourages the viewer to always look beyond the obvious.
My visual art runs parallel with my work as an actor, both rooted in breathing life into characters through storytelling. Though I sometimes use my own face as a model, these are not technically self-portraits any more than playing Lady Macbeth is a self-portrait. However, the art is personal, featuring the mythologies of my Celtic and Norse ancestors, and even pieces of my grandparents’s faded love letters. As I piece together fragments of the past to understand my place in the present, I create snapshots of stories left for the viewer to complete.
Exploring themes such as the ethereal nature of memory, messages from The Divine, and the human spirit’s delight in liberty, my work is a celebration of the nuance, complexity, and singular beauty of being human.
The Avatar Series is an exploration of the old gods manifesting in modern day cultural icons. These take time, with periods of communion followed by meticulous, “mathy” drafting in the studio.
Making wild, improvised floral-like abstracts serve as a palate-cleanser, and connect me to Source in a way that isn't touched by the rational or representational. I am often alternating between the two styles, attempting to stay loose and creatively free.