"Into The Bright Stillness" series 2009

This body of work highlights the raw beauty of the natural world, specifically during the winter months in the mountains of the western United States. I draw upon fond memories of childhood trips to the snow and more recent journeys from my home in Venice, California to higher elevations. My focus is the great outdoors, but these are not traditional landscapes or wildlife portraits, rather, they are contemporary compositions derived from a careful blend of classic beauty and modern life.

I use a combination of my own photography and images carefully collected from vintage magazines, books and old product packaging. I assemble this array of visuals into asymmetrically balanced grids that I color with a palette of warm earth tones accented by bold hits of vibrant color. The elements are tied together with clippings of found text that I include to open up the narrative possibilities, telling stories of memories and dreams, love and heartbreak, achievements and expectations. Each piece is sealed under a thick glossy coat of resin, adding a visual polish and uniting the varied elements into one cohesive work.

While my method is complex - using photography, found materials, paint and resin - my goal is simple: emotion. I don’t pretend we have all had the same experiences throughout our varied lives, but I do believe we experience common emotions. I strive to tap into these shared feelings to push viewers beyond merely relating to an image but to call them ultimately to feel something inside that is real.

- Jay Kelly

"Rawness & Polish" series 2007-2008

My work is a fusion of rawness and polish reminding the viewer that beauty can be found in unexpected places and in everyday encounters, such as a bird flying overhead, an old oak tree or a gritty urban street corner. These moments, initially captured through my photographs, emerge as the focus of the pieces. I then compliment each focal image with my shots of more conventional beauty, such as ocean sunsets and the palm tree lined beaches of Venice, California - my home that continuously inspires me. I layer scraps of aged paper, muted imagery and bold hits of paint for texture and depth. I tie all these elements together with stenciled words and clippings of found text that serve to open up the narrative possibilities of the image, telling stories of memories and dreams, love and heartbreak, achievements and expectations. I finish each piece by sealing it under a thick glossy coat of resin, adding a visual polish and uniting the varied elements into one cohesive work.

This work showcases my many influences and passions, ranging from music and surfing to my fascination with the grittier side of urban landscapes, resulting in a careful blend of classic beauty and modern life.

While my method is complex - using photography, found materials, paint, stencils and resin - my subject is simple: emotion. I don’t pretend we have all had the same experiences throughout our varied lives, but I do believe we experience common emotions. I strive to tap into these shared feelings to push viewers beyond merely relating to an image but to call them ultimately to feel something inside that is real.

- Jay Kelly

"First Words" series 2006-2007

Collage is a mysterious art. It can be described simply as an assemblage of diverse elements, yet when combined in just the right way assorted pieces can form something of spectacular beauty and depth.

This series consists of bold, abstract collages of found text and imagery mixed with my own photography - each with a single word stenciled across the center. The stenciled words are big lofty concepts but the accompanying imagery and text tell a more detailed story, or rather beckon you to piece together a story of your own. They tell of memories and dreams, love and heartbreak, achievements and expectations. I don’t pretend we have all had the same experiences throughout our varied lives, but I do believe we experience common emotions. I strive to tap into these shared feelings to make you ultimately feel something inside that is real.

I choose to “paint” with paper and various printed materials in order to achieve a unique depth to my work. By allowing you to first see a complete composition, then at a closer look, to explore the many individual pictures and bits of text, I am able to add layers of meaning to each piece. Similar to how a DJ would sample sounds and bits of music to produce a new song, I combine photographs and printed materials to create a new image with a life and expression of its own, far greater than the sum of its disparate parts.

I complete each piece with a layer of resin, permanently fusing all the elements together as if to capture a moment in time, a story, a memory, a dream... forever.

- Jay Kelly