The strength and assurance of femininity, in both a sarcastic and reverent sense, are the driving force behind Kelly Tunstall’s body of work. In her studied portraits, Tunstall renders stylized, leggy, female figures, and their pets, prey, powers, dreams and whims in acrylic and ink on panel or canvas.
Also working in illustration, installation, and multimedia projects, Tunstall plays with the contrast between the formality of opulent form and the revelation of method. The patina of age and calligraphic drawing methods lend a contemplative atmosphere to her story-filled worlds.
Common themes reflect the contrasting dualities of Tunstall’s imagined ladies: interior and exterior realms; innocence and mischief; concrete reality and the dreamscapes of the supernatural. The resulting body of work is a comprehensive study of the modern and sometimes not so modern woman.