Artist statement

Even in the deepest darkness there is light.

Can a painter inspire those who see her work to look more carefully at the world around them and discover its extraordinary beauty?

My work isn’t political or confronting – it’s a reminder that the unpredictability and lurking chaos of the outside world is only transient. Art that pays tribute to the natural world is an invitation to step back and reconnect with who we are.

From a perspective often reflecting the domestic and the feminine, I use compositional elements as the common denominations of our collective experience. I don’t particularly paint animals, flowers and fruit, rather the emotions they create in me – the inner life. I see a painting as a conversation between me and the viewer. I’m looking for a sense of rightness in the combination of drama, colour and technique to create balance, truth, serenity.

Oil paint has vibrancy, delicateness and strength – it is the perfect medium to suggest the elusive quality of light and express nuance. There is an intimate dialogue between the painter and the painting, which becomes a dance when the work finds its own presence, when the air of the arbitrary vanishes, and the painting is liberated from the artist. Then the work is not a representation of something else, but itself.

Gatya Kelly

Byron Bay 2024