Artist Profile
Kelly Elizabeth Watson's site-reactive material-driven sculptures, paintings, and installations are a dialogue with the seasons, cycles and biological inhabitants of the living world. She masterfully uses color and form to convey her message while manipulating perception of scale and space. An observer of the pattern and processes of nature, skillfully mapping the connections between self, both past and present.
Her work focuses our experiences of systemic trauma, grief, change, and the ways in which we other the natural world, through the lens of modern motherhood and femininity: how we carry our personal and collective trauma and reflect it onto the world around us and how that is a reflection of the natural processes of growth and decay. Textiles, fibers, inks, wood, paint; woven, painted, or sewn together, bring naturally hand-wrought beauty inside to soften the disconnect between our urban existence and the nature just outside our doors.
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All art, surface pattern designs, prints, photography and thoughts on this website are the thoughts, physical and intellectual property of the artist, Kelly Watson, 2025.
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Portrait by Cooper Carras 2024
Shows, Exhibitions, Media
Education
California State University Monterey Bay: Visual and Public Art, 2006
Residencies
2007-2009
Octopi Collective Co-Founder, Monterey CA
Publications
2023
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“Transition Phase” 2023, Flora Fiction Magazine
Group Exhibitions
2005
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Inaugural Balfour-Brutzman Gallery Show, Cal State Monterey Bay, Marina CA
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“Chairs”, Monterey Regional Airport, Monterey CA
2006
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Capstone Show, Cal State Monterey Bay, Marina California
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“West End”, Sand City CA
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“Scraps of My Undoing”, Miriam’s Coffee, Monterey CA
2007
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“Octopi Collective”, Hawthorne Warehouse, Sand City CA
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“Madonna”, Cafe Lumiere, Monterey CA
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“Untapped Desires”, Hawthorne Warehouse, Sand City CA
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Steinbeck Center 2009
2008
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“Corporeal: Octopi Collective Anniversary”, Jose’s Underground, Monterey CA
2009
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“From This Stone and Anvil: Arthurian Legend Exposed and Abstracted”, National Steinbeck Center, Salinas CA
2011
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“Maker’s Market”, Denver CO
2022
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“Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum Fall Festival”, La Conner WA
Solo Exhibitions
2007
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“Kelly Watson”, Miriam’s Coffee Shop, Monterey CA
2024
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“Forest Tides”, Stardust Salon, Olympia Fall Arts Walk, Olympia WA
Installations
2016
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“Golden Forest”, Zearly, Carmel CA
2017
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“Spring Meadow”, Zearly, Carmel CA
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“Mermaid Bay”, Zearly, Carmel CA
2018
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“Nutcracker Ball”, Metronome Dancewear, Carmel CA
2019
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“There’s No Place Like Gnome”, Zearly, Carmel CA
2020
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“Black Swan, Pink Swan”, Metronome Dancewear, Carmel CA
2021
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“Dance Storm”, Metronome Dancewear, Carmel CA
2024
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“Nested”, Goldberg Building, Downtown Olympia WA, Olympia Artspace Alliance Spring Show “Community”
2025
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“I Saw The Autumn In Her Eyes”, Socha Arts, Olympia WA
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“Nested”, Socha Arts, Olympia WA