Kelly Tunstall

Upcoming

September 8 2011 A Secret State | 111 Minna Gallery

Kelly Tunstall (born 1979) received her BA from California College of Arts and Crafts in 2002.

Coded languages, the adaptive nature of the human psyche and unsettled optimism are the driving forces behind Kelly Tunstall’s body of work.

Working in acrylic, collage, spray paint, pencil, pen and ink, gold leaf and some secret sauce, the experimental, yet classically grounded works live somewhat comfortably in a space between graphic expression, stylized representation, surrealism, and sketch. The patina of age and calligraphic drawing methods lend further depth to her story-filled worlds.

The simplicity of the messages are enhanced by the underlying vitality and complex layering within the work. In her portraits, Tunstall renders stylized female figures and their pets, prey, powers, dreams and whims in symbolic environments: nests built of painted boards held together by drawn nails or far off planets. The physical form and its accompanying exterior become a mirror for internal thought processes and turmoil.

For instance, frequent themes such as mermaids, twins, or extra limbs concede a desire, a reliance, an adaptation, or more simply, an aspiration to something greater than being in the painting they inhabit.

Also working in illustration, installation, and multimedia projects, Tunstall plays with the contrast between a compositional formality and a more casual revelation of method.

Tunstall has shown nationally and internationally, often in collaboration with her husband, Ferris Plock. Her work is on permanent view at the restaurants a16 and Bar Crudo, both in San Francisco. Her following includes technologists and rockstars, fashionistas and foodies alike.

Common themes reflect the contrasting dualities of Tunstall’s imagined ladies: interior and exterior realms; concrete reality and the dreamscapes of the supernatural. The resulting body of work is a comprehensive study of the modern and sometimes not so modern woman.

Selected Solo and Duo Exhibitions

*= With Ferris Plock

Selected Group Exibhitions