Gayle Kells

Based in Ottawa, artist Gayle Kells uses a variety of media to examine issues relating to identity and environment. Her “dress paintings” use the image of the dress as a starting point to reflect on identity issues such as time, place, and memory relating to the female body. Richly textured and finely nuanced, the paintings draw attention to the dress as an object of adornment and ambivalence, evoking both positive and negative emotions. Her finely penned ink drawings evoke imagery of fauna and flora, incorporating rhythmic patterns reminiscent of tapestry and other embroidery techniques. Kells’ pensive drawings evolve organically on paper, offering a meditation on the beauty and demise of the natural world.

Her sculptural assemblages are centred on the dress as a symbol of both beauty and pain. Continuing her exploration of identity and the female body, the artist uses vintage corsets, undergarments, and found objects, embedding them with thousands of pins – straight, sequence, hair, safety, or pearl – to reflect on the female form and the extent to which the body is used as an objectified site.

Gayle Kells completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Ottawa.  She has received grants from the City of Ottawa, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. She has exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions throughout North America and her work is held in private and public collections including the City of Ottawa’s Fine Art Collection.  She has been a member of the Enriched Bread Artists studios in Ottawa for over 25 years.

 

 

 

See more works by Gayle Kells on our Virtual Gallery