James Kelsey was born in 1964 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1977 his
family relocated to Tehran, Iran after his father got a job with Bell
Helicopter. It was in Tehran that Kelsey
was first introduced to abstract art. In
1979 his family was forced to move back to the US because of the Iranian
Revolution. In Jr. High School, Kelsey
began experimenting with different art forms including ceramics, photography
, and eventually metal casting.
Upon his completion of High School, he became a firefighter with the
United States Air Force and was stationed in Italy. It was in Italy that the artist first
realized that a living could be made as a professional artist. In 1987 James Kelsey moved back Washington
after being honorably discharged from the United States Air Force.
The artist began taking classes
at Olympic College for welding in order to finally realize his dream of making
a living from his sculptures. Though he
has taken welding and fabrication classes, he considers himself “self-taught”
as he has developed his artistic style on his own. Of his process, he states, “As a
self-taught artist, I feel free to explore my imagination no matter where it
may lead. I like creating in the abstract because it requires the viewer to
bring something personal to the work of art.
They need to call upon their own history, their thoughts, and what they
already know to bring their own meaning to any particular sculpture.”
>James Kelsey currently lives in
Port Orchard, Washington where he built his own studio.
EXHIBITIONS, JURIED SHOWS & AWARDS
2020 “Visual Field Automation”, Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
2017 “Unexpected Networks”, Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
2015 ARTrails Studio Tour, Centralia, Washington
2014 ARTrails Studio Tour, Centralia, Washington
2013 ARTrails Studio Tour, Centralia, Washington
2012 Charles Wright Academy Auction, Tacoma, Washington
2011 Bellevue Festival of the Arts, Bellevue, Washington
2010 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Gala, Bellevue, Washington
2010 Art for Equal Justice, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
2010 Kitsap Literacy Spelling Bee Fundraiser, Silverdale, Washington
2009 Art for Equal Justice, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
2008 Art for Equal Justice, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington
2008 Seattle Museum of Flight Auction, Seattle, Washington
2007 Pike Place Market Foundation, Pigs On Parade, Seattle, Washington
2007 Bellevue Festival of the Arts, Bellevue, Washington
2007 Urban Impressions, Two Vaults Gallery, Tacoma, Washington
2007 The Night Tacoma Danced, Tacoma Art Museum fundraiser, Tacoma, Washington
2006 Bremerton Unity Church fundraiser, Bremerton, Washington
2006 South Kitsap Artists’ Association
2003 Outdoors Art Exhibit, Carillon Point, Kirkland, Washington
2001 Outdoors Art Exhibit, City of Redmond Sculpture Park, Redmond, Washington
2001 Kitsap Golf & Country Club, Bremerton, Washington
2001 Invitational Exhibition, Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2001 Gardens of Art, Seattle Art Museum Supporters, Seattle, Washington
2000 Artistic Design, Olympic Community College, Bremerton, Washington
2000 Iron Design Center, Seattle, Washington
2000 James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation Award
1999 WAVE Scholarship (Washington Award for Vocational Excellence) for Sculpting
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS
2014 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, “Touching the Intangible”
2014 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, “Tuareg Sun”
2013 Callison, Inc., Lacey, WA “Helios,” “Industrial Heart,” & “Eye of the Beholder, II”
2012 Public/Private Commission, Belfair, WA, “Beginning Again Once More”
2011 Multicare - Good Samaritan Hospital, Puyallup, WA, "Eye of the Beholder, V"
2008 Karat Development, Richmond, British Columbia, “Tsunami in Steel”
2008 Bremerton Police Department Sculpture, WA, “Tides of Justitia”
2007 City of Issaquah, Issaquah, WA, “And Mithras Danced”
2006 Bridgerland Applied Technology College, Logan, UT, “Eye of the Beholder, IV”
2006 Tacoma Police Memorial, Tacoma, WA, “Memories of Blue”
2004 Government Center, Bremerton, WA, “And A Turning Point Was Realized”
2004 The Manor, Lynnwood, WA, “Eye of the Beholder”
