Kelly O’Brien is an accomplished artist here in the Twin Cities and has been a mentor in the MCAD MFA program since 2014. We recently talked to Kelly about her practice, latest achievements, and what it means to be a mentor in the program. Please listen to Kelly’s story and visit her website to see more of her work! 

While on summer hiatus from teaching as Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, I have been busy with a solo exhibition at Soo Visual Arts Center, as well as being a recipient of the McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship. 

The sculptural paintings in Kulture High, which recently closed at SooVAC, featured cats, judging my abstractions in a disapproving way. Through humor, I hope to suggest critiques of our learned art world, challenging the obvious assumptions that we routinely follow. With the absurdity in the art-critiquing-art pieces, my imagery can be easily dismissed based on the stereotypical, superficial value some assign to them. The antagonists I am testing are cats, due to the seemingly undying pop culture phenomenon that surrounds them, while incorporating the trust of traditional oil portraiture. Stereotyping mainstream pop-culture through hand-painted clip art graphics of a cat, I am simultaneously commenting on societal values of lowbrow culture, such as YouTube, and high culture art generalizations through material traditions. This show was reviewed in Artforum.com’s Critics’ Picks as a Minneapolis highlight.

I am also a current MFA mentor at MCAD, which has been a rewarding experience. The talent of the current graduate class is not only impressive but inspiring. I believe in putting theory into practice through the direct mentorship program, where no one can be overlooked. With blurred distinctions between sculpture and painting in my own work, I encourage cross-disciplinary study in various media.