BIO

Kelly B. Woods (b. 1966, Los Angeles) is a Los Angeles–based painter working in geometric abstraction. Her current work moves away from the hard-edge compositions for which she is known toward a gentler geometry, primarily using watercolor washes and softer edges with intentional irregularities of surface.

Woods’ earlier body of work, geometric abstractions incorporating glitter, color theory, and formal elements of the Light and Space movement, was placed in collections including law firms in London, New York, and Century City; the Four Seasons Las Vegas; and Merois restaurant at the former Pendry West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip. These works were activated through perceptual effects: dynamic color shifts, afterimages, and surfaces that changed as the viewer moved in front of them.

In the mid-1980s, Woods turned down admission to Otis College of Art and Design to continue working as a studio assistant to Billy Al Bengston and Charles Christopher Hill in Venice and to Mary Corse in Topanga.

Since 2009, Woods has exhibited in Los Angeles and beyond, including a solo exhibition at TAJ Art Gallery, a solo presentation at Saatchi Art’s The Other Art Fair, a two-person show at Modfellows in Nashville, and group exhibitions at Edward Cella Gallery and Over the Influence. Her work was included in the Southern California/Baja Biennial at the San Diego Art Institute in 2016. She has been featured in LA Weekly, Art and Cake, Peripheral Vision Press, and FULL BLEDE.

STATEMENT

My work is about color, shape, surface, balance, and structure. COLOR: specifically pink, because when I’m not using pink, I’m working really hard not to use it, but all the other things about color, too. SHAPE: closed shapes, open shapes, shapes that contain, shapes that support, shapes that shape, shapes that cut, shapes that bring it together and shapes that split it apart, shapes that push, shapes that pull, serious shapes, silly shapes, what a shape communicates, when an object stripped of detail becomes just a shape, shapes in harmony and shapes that argue. SURFACE: rough, smooth, or sleek, surface can set the mood, catch color in its nooks and crannies, and remind you why you love seeing art in person. BALANCE and STRUCTURE are the pieces of the puzzle that fit together to make the composition. It all gets thrown together, and out comes something, for better or worse.