Kelly L. Walker - The Rainbow Tornado

On this episode we interview fine artist Kelly L. Walker. We talk about creating a studio space that lifts up creative team members, balancing personal and commercial work, and Kelly’s journey to discover her identity as an artist in an unexpected way.

Kelly L. Walker | Baltimore, MD

Fine Artist

Artist Bio:

Kelly L. Walker is an American born, self taught artist who continues to study at the ‘School of Life’. She found her way to Baltimore, Maryland by the age of 18 where she has lived ever since. Walker absorbs the beauty, chaos and reality of Baltimore City channeling it into her work.

In 2013, Walker purchased a rundown auto shop in the heart of the city. The building is located between the historic cultural arts district of Mt Vernon and the newly designated Bromo Arts district currently undergoing a neighborhood revitalization. In an immense labor of love, Walker transformed the downtrodden building into a live/work space that has been featured in Baltimore Magazine as a work of art in of itself. An art collection covers the inside walls, boasting of other local artists. The studio and apartment serve not only as a place of business and a home but sometimes Walker opens her home for gatherings which benefit community organizations such as Creative Alliances’s ‘Art to Dine for’.

The dichotomy of Kelly Walker’s world translates onto her canvases as she paints in fits of inspiration which has led to an expansive collection of unique series, committing spontaneous reflections of her mood and emotions to canvas. Walker’s abstract paintings demonstrate the techniques, textures, and patterns she employs as a professional decorative painter. She pushes mediums past their intended purposes, encouraging them to collide and react, not rejecting happy accidents and forcing incompatible materials to meet. Utilizing a wide range of atypical materials, her works are intricately layered, calling reference to landscape, graffiti and color fields. Walker’s artwork has been featured extensively at venues both in and outside of the Baltimore area, including the Rosenberg Gallery, Silo Point, Gallery 1951 in Los Angeles, and the Delaware Museum of Art.

Artist Statement:

I use a wide range of atypical materials pushing mediums past their intended purpose, encouraging them to collide and react, not rejecting happy accidents and forcing incompatible materials to meet. My works are intricately layered referencing graffiti, landscape and color field. I work in fits of inspiration that has led to an expansive collection of unique series.