At first glance, you might think Morgan Kelley‘s work are simple graphite drawings.
But upon closer examination, you’ll discover how Morgan has melded the 2D and 3D, creating metal sculpture illusions in an entirely new way.
Read more about Morgan below and view her work in print in Issue 22 “Something New.”
I grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland, in Salisbury, with 3 brothers. After college, without a specific intention for my biology degree, I returned home and returned to the childhood idea of learning how to weld in order to make metal art.
I took a welding class through a nearby community college and worked for the instructor as a production welder for nearly two years. Through many hours of learning and drawing and ideating, I made the leap to begin my venture as a working artist.
I suppose my work is “something new” in a slightly two-fold manner, one being that I’m new to Austin and the other relating to my art.
Welded, steel metal art is nothing new, however I think my use of it, largely 2D with simple, sharp lines set against walls, is something I have not really come across (although there are definitely some similar artists I’ve found!)
What led me to working with metal and welding is largely due to my grandfather being a blacksmith and also having created some metal art.
He died before I was born but is often talked about in my family because of his experience in Germany during the Holocaust, and later his journey to the US, his peserverance and optimism. So I had this interest in metalworking that I eventually developed into a welding skill.
I took one sculpture class where we were instructed to work with a metal rod and from there I have just fallen in love with the process of sketching and then being able to translate those sketches into physical metal objects.
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