Kelly Gough

In 2001 I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and in 2005 released from the Canadian Armed Forces after 22 years of service. I have since experienced the unique treatment reserved for people living with a Mental Health issue. In my art practice I seek to challenge and inspire the viewer to rethink their assumptions about Mental Illness.

I am most passionate about working in 3 Dimensions because then anything I see, feel, hear, smell and taste can be used as a conduit of self-expression. I am captivated by the infinite alliance of form and material available to me. Repetition of ordinary objects, fastening everyday materials in unexpected ways, merging incongruent substances: these methods of making underpin and define my work.

Copper is a ubiquitous material with deep historical artistic and industrial roots. The existence of copper has enabled and sustained the logarithmic growth of technologies, to our humane detriment. Subverting copper's industrial function to one of static contemplation becomes an allegorical plea for deceleration and hope.

In a world where peace inhabits the marked position, efforts to create the arresting out of the unexpected speak to the untapped global grace currently denied us. My art alludes to potential solutions to the myriad social injustices saturating our world. The complexity of this work forecasts that solutions to these injustices are possible but will be multifaceted, protracted and demand our deepest commitments. One should not shy away from the challenge of offering hope within a seemingly permanently damaged context.

Kelly Gough, July 2010