Kelly Tunstall

Kelly Tunstall (born 1979) received her BA from California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco.

The strength and assurance of femininity, in both a sarcastic and reverent sense, are the driving force behind Kelly Tunstall’s body of work.

Working in acrylic, collage, spraypaint, 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 simplicity of the messages are enhanced by the underlying vitality and complex layering within the work.

In her studied portraits, Tunstall renders stylized, leggy female figures and their pets, prey, powers, dreams and. Their physical forms and accompanying exteriors represent and mirror 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 a painting.

In the ever more frequent collaborations between Tunstall and her husband, Ferris Plock, two worlds collide as Plock's intensely insinctual monsters threaten, challenge, consume and adore the girls, as they inhabit the constructed enviroments and nests built of painted boards and drawn nails.

Also working in illustration, installation, and multimedia projects, Tunstall plays with the contrast between the formality of defined forms and the revelation of method. The patina of age and calligraphic drawing methods lend further depth to her story-filled worlds.

Common themes reflect the contrasting dualities of Tunstall’s imagined ladies: interior and exterior realms; innocence and mischief; 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