Kilaine Shelley

Lives and works in Orlando, FL

Artist statement

My work contrasts unforgiving ink washes with fragile, memory-like charcoal to communicate my experience with chronic illness and traumatic stress. The drawings and paintings reconcile my past and present to address dissonant relationships with the body and mind, inviting the viewer into private everyday scenes related to my disability that may not otherwise seem medical. Through fragmented layers of charcoal, I explore the anger, grief, and surprising tenderness that can come alongside the interdependent nature of being sick. In response, I ask the viewer to question and engage with their own relationship with care, illness, power, and pain.

Artwork