My art for me is a sort of language, far more descriptive than written language. Reflecting on meaning, I feel my individuality, my existence and my place in the world is represented in the works. The process of painting for me is an investigation, questioning beauty, and the functionality and purpose in the beautiful forms and subjects I focus on. Abstracted, hybrid forms that were originally life at the microscopic level, I refer to them as atomic flowers. To me, they contain this incredible energy. They are small in and of themselves, but they are powerful, and this is where the everything comes into play. It’s the relationships in between them, what is around them, what patterns they are creating and how I am representing them as subjects. I invent my own world with these forms and create my own visual language, and then the experience one can have with them is something entirely different than they can have with anything else.
Kelly Porter is from Dallas, TX. She received her BFA from Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO in 1997, where she studied printmaking and philosophy. Upon receiving a full scholarship, she continued her education at the State University of New York in Buffalo, NY, where she received an MFA in 1999. Porter returned to Kansas City for a teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute and began showing her work in galleries across the country. Kelly Porter’s work has been described by critics as “unique, composed and calming, with layered and labor intensive surfaces.”
As a full-time professional artist, Porter has simultaneously produced work for multiple solo exhibitions, as well as creating and running the successful textile and wall covering company, Porter Teleo.
Her honors include being named as one of the “21 Under 30 Top Artists to Watch” in 2004 by Southwest-Art Magazine, “Top Visual Artist” in 2006 by Kansas City Magazine, a “Merit Award for Best Product Design” from Interior Design Magazine, 2008, and a number of editorials in Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, Vogue, Town and Country, Women’s Wear Daily, Veranda, Metro- politan Home, House Beautiful, Spaces Kansas City and IN Kansas City Magazine for her surface design work for Porter Teleo.
Kelly Porter’s personal contemporary artwork can be seen in private and corporate collections nationwide, including: Poetry and Rare Books Collection of New York, NY, Utilicorp, KC, MO, Sprint Corporate Collection, Overland Park, KS, Brandmeyer En- terprises, LLC, Leawood, KS, Shook Hardy and Bacon, KC, MO, Houlihan’s Restaurant Corp, Chicago, IL, American Century, KC, MO, and other public spaces including New York Fashion Week VIP Lounge, the Greenville Symphony Auditorium and the New York Palace Hotel Lobby. She has received numerous accolades in the art and design community and was recently honored as a guest speaker at the Creative Leadership Symposium through Hallmark, KC, MO.
Porter lives and works in Kansas City. She has been represented by Blue Gallery in the Kansas City Crossroads Arts Districts since 2000.
