Kelly O'Dell
Coming from a place where active volcanoes constantly rumbled and gurgled, I grew up obsessed with my own mortality. Through sculpture, my work explores themes of “Memento Mori,” as well as extinction, preservation, and origin. It is fascinating and devastating that our existence has so much impact on the delicate balance of life, our own species included. I hope my artwork could serve as a reminder, or “Memento,” of our borrowed time.
The Ammonite, an intelligent coiled-up cephalopod, became extinct 65 Million years ago, leaving impressions in its marine habitat to fossilize. Today, we can hold this time-teller in hand, and if we take a close look, we can notice the great difference between us. I think about what we will leave behind when we are gone, and what index fossils buried in our particular strata of time will look like.
Although my main technique is Hot Glass Sculpture, I use Glass in a variety of ways, including screen-printing and fusing, cold-working and casting, and reflective mirror mosaic. Supporting materials are often metal, bronze, and wood. I enjoy combining processes and materials to convey my message.
Glass often evokes a perceived fragility. With wafer-thin screen-printed glass powders, I am able to convey the commonly perceived fragility of glass within a theme like animal extinction. In contrast, Glass can also be massive and impervious. By casting thick blocks of transparent glass embedded with patterned inclusions, I try to communicate hope in Nature’s persistence.
When she was a year old in 1974, Kelly O’Dell’s family moved from Seattle to the Big Island of Hawai’i. Living in one of the most culturally and biologically diverse regions in the world, Kelly grew up in an actively erupting volcanic paradise struggling with a legacy of colonialism. Her childhood steeped in endless summer, she swam with glass-bottom boats and dove for coins tossed by their tourists. Kelly’s parents had an art studio in Kealakekua-Kona, and made their living using stained glass, blown glass, and pressed flowers. With interests in Oceanography, Astronomy, and Math, Kelly chose Glass as her primary focus at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. The program offered her many opportunities to study and work at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA, and she eventually relocated there as a member of the William Morris Winter Crew. Influenced by this talented team of artists and by her island upbringing, O’Dell’s work mainly examines species extinction and conservation, and human impact on the natural world. Kelly has taught glassmaking at Pilchuck Glass School, Pratt Fine Arts, Penland School of Craft, Niijima Glass Center (Japan), The Royal Danish Academy (Bornholm), and at Pittsburgh Glass Center. She has recently returned to island life, residing on Lopez Island, WA with her husband, glass artist Raven Skyriver, and their 13-year-old son Wren, who sometimes dabbles in glassmaking.
Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Northwest Art and the Pittsburgh Glass Center. Recent group exhibitions include the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Whatcom Museum, the Tacoma Museum of Glass, the Fuller Craft Museum, and The Glasmuseum Lette of Coesfeld, Germany.
Collections include the Tacoma Museum of Glass Permanent Collection, the Kamm Teapot Foundation, the Washington State Art Collection, the Robert M. Minkoff Foundation, the Glasmuseum Lette Collection, The Henry Ford, and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
Public Art Collection: The Washington State Art Commission (Mirror mosaic at Harriet Rowley School Library, Mt. Vernon WA)
Other collections include: The Tacoma Museum of Glass Permanent Collection,The Kamm Teapot Foundation, The Robert M. Minkoff Foundation, & The Glasmuseum Lette Collection.
