As a way of engaging the viewer to think about their fragile relationship with the environment, Murray’s sculptures made from cast-off industrial aluminum and layered encaustics transform the materials of construction into objects reminiscent of the natural world. Collecting hundreds upon hundreds of Curiosities, as she calls them, Murray slowly and deliberately assembles her pieces for installation—each one a unique building block within the visual language she articulates within her exhibitions.
Murray follows her intuition and welcomes the chaotic nature of her process—at the level of individual sculptures but also at the level of display. Her challenge when selecting pieces to mount is how to integrate and organize the collection, considering color, shape, texture, positioning, and pattern. In some instances the pieces from the Curiosities series have been arranged in a rather dense but fluid and amorphous stretch along the wall space. Chromatically, from left to right, the similarly-colored groupings of pieces moved according to the order of the rainbow—beginning with orange and yellow and returning to red in a playfully disordered order. In other exhibitions, Murray has organized her pieces within grids or according to the chronology of their creation. By arranging and rearranging her sculptures, accepting that there is always more than one possible configuration, more than one story to tell, Murray subverts the human inclination to structure and categorize the world. Rather than heed this limiting impulse, Murray remains open to change, regarding the world with wonder and awe.
Kelly Sheppard Murray lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her work has shown work at VAE and Artspace in Raleigh, the Wilma Daniels Gallery, Wilmington, for the Durham Art Guild’s Art@work program to install 4 large groupings at WillowTree Corporate office in Durham for a 6 month exhibit. To follow along with day to day studio projects she can be found on Instagram @kellysheppardmurray_art or for a portfolio of work on her website www.kellysheppardmurray.com
EDUCATION
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture/Art Education
Peace College, Raleigh, NC, Associate of Art
Solo or Two-Person EXHIBITIONS
2019 Interactions: New Site-specific Installations, Durham Art Guild’s Art@work program and partnership with WillowTree
2019 Accumulated Color Exhibition, VAE’s The Lab, Raleigh, NC
2019 Kelly Sheppard Murray Sculpture Exhibition Wilma Daniels Gallery
Presented by Local: Art + Ideas, Wilmington, NC
2018 Second Nature, Holder Goods, Raleigh, NC
2017 Re-Surface, Artspace Regional Artist in Residence Exhibition, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2016 Wake Technical Community College Featured Faculty Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
2013 Wake Med Art Exhibition, supported by United Arts Council, Raleigh, NC
2012 Wake County Commissioner’s Office Art Show, Raleigh, NC
2001 Pressed, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Rocky Mount, NC
2000 Press, Legget Theater Gallery, Peace College, Raleigh, NC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 311 Gallery, Group Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
2019 Durham Art Guild’s Annual Juried Art Exhibition’s 65th
Juror: Emily Stamey, Curator of Exhibitions, Weatherspoon Art Museum
2018 Tinney Contemporary/Tinney Concept, Under $500 (online exhibition, December 2018)
2018 Dogwood Art Regional Artist Exhibition, Knoxville Tennessee
Juror: Leigh Suggs, Independent Artist & Curator
2018Raleigh Fine Arts Society’s North Carolina Artists Exhibition
Juror: Jennifer Dasal, associate curator of contemporary art at NC Museum Art
2017 Artspace Corridors Exhibition (November to January 2018), Raleigh, NC
2017 Proximity (3 person Exhibition), Seaboard Wine & Tasting Bar, Raleigh, NC
2017 Community Arts Exhibition, United Arts Council. Raleigh, NC, (via VAE Raleigh)
2017 Artspace’s 30th Anniversary Retrospective Juried Exhibition.
Jurors: Annah Lee, Artspace’s Director of Artistic Programs & Lia Newman, Director & Curator of Van Every/Smith Galleries
2017 Float, VAE. Juror: Mary Mattingly
2017 Artspace Artist’s Members Spring Corridors Exhibition, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2016 SCOPE 2016, Visual Art Exchange. Juror: Daniel Fuller, curator, Atlanta Contemporary
2016 Tactile, Visual Art Exchange, Raleigh, NC. Juror: Tom Pursey,
2016 Greenville Museum of Art’s Biennial Juried Art Exhibition, Greenville, NC. Juror: Theresa
N. Hammond, Director & Curator of the Guilford College Art Gallery, Greensboro, NC.
2016 NC Sculptor’s Consortium Exhibition, Gray Gallery East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
2015 ECU Alumni Show, Joyner Library, Greenville, NC
2011 ECU Alumni Show, Emerge Gallery, Greenville, NC
2010 SPARKcon Festival, PODS Installation, Raleigh, NC
2006 Nine, Wayne County Arts Council, Goldsboro, NC
2006, Elizabeth City University, Elizabeth City, NC
2006, Snowhill Arts Council, NC
2006, Community Council for the Arts, Kinston, NC
2004 Social Justice, Peace College, Raleigh, NC
2002 Disposition, City Center Gallery, Fayetteville, NC
2001 Disposition, Peace College, Raleigh, NC
2001 Visionary Artists, Community Council for the Arts, Kinston, NC
1999 Alumni Show, Legget Theater Gallery, Peace College, Raleigh, NC
1999 Spring Semester Visiting Artist Exhibitions, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1998 Visiting Faculty Exhibition, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1998 MFA Thesis Show, Gray Gallery, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
1997 Baltic Iron Exhibition, Tallinna Kunstiulikool Eesti, Tallinn, Estonia
1997 International Travelling Exhibition, Buttermarket Gallery, Cologne, Germany
& Stadthalle Gallery, Bergheim, Germany
1996 Baltic Iron Show, Tallinna Kunstiulikool
1996 Community Council for the Arts Show, Kinston Arts Council Gallery, Kinston, NC
1995 Baltic Iron Show, Kastellaanimaja Galerii, Tallinn, Estonia
Pop up Shops & Retail Exhibition Participation
2020 Zen Succulent January-February Featured Artist, Durham, NC
2018 Raleigh Vintage, Artist Feature, Raleigh, NC
2018 Smart & Becker, Knoxville, Tennessee
2017 Retro Modern Home Furnishings November Local Artist Feature, Hargett St. Raleigh, NC
2017 Summer Shop (Pop Up Shop), Bloodworth Ave. Raleigh, NC
2017 Artspace Gallery Shop, Raleigh, NC
2017 Retro Modern Home Furnishings May Local Artist Feature, Hargett St. Raleigh, NC
GRANTS, AWARDS, HONORS
2018 International Encaustic Artist Emerging Artist Grant
2018 Third place, Dogwood Arts Regional Artist Exhibition, Knoxville, TN
2016 Regional Emerging Artist Residency, (6 month studio residency) Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2012 Regional Artists Project Grant, United Arts of Raleigh & Wake County
2007 Outstanding Faculty, Art Department, Wake Tech. Community College
2001 Peace College Goodman Scholar, Peace College, Raleigh, NC
2000 Regional Artist Project Grant, United Arts Council of Wake County
1997 Rivers Study Abroad Scholarship: study in Poland, Estonia, Russia & Finland.
1996 Rivers Study Abroad Scholarship: study with C. Billingsley - Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland
1996 Merit Award, Pitt County Arts Council Show, Ayden, NC
1995 Rivers Study Abroad Scholarship: study with C. Billingsley in Estonia, Russia & Finland.
PUBLICATIONS, ARTICLES & MEDIA
Create Magazine, Issue XVI, 2019 Juried Issue with guest Juror Nina Blumberg https://createmagazine.com/read/kelly-sheppard-murray
“An artist created one sculpture a day for a year” Live interview with Ashlea Kosikowski, Wilmington NC TV station WECT, February 22, 2019 (link to online version)
Justin Lacy, “A sculpture a day: Raleigh artist’s ‘Curiosity Series’ features more than a year’s worth of daily work” Star News, Wilmington, January 17, 2019 (link to online version)
Artlistr Blog “Featured Artist: Kelly Sheppard Murray – 8 Questions”
https://artlistr.com/featured-artist-kelly-sheppard-murray-8-questions/
Laken Geiger, “Seven Things You Didn’t Know about Kelly Murray” ArtsNow, June 30, 2016 http://www.artsnownc.com/seventhings-kelly-murray/