Disposal of Fullness

Golden Thread Gallery - Belfast | 2nd May - 20th Jun 2026

In this new body of work, created between 2024 - 2026, Kelly reflects on what remains hidden or unnoticed and how such absences shape our sense of identity and connection to the world around us. Through the use of vintage sewing patterns, and other delicate materials, Kelly delves into the emotional complexities of concealment and burden, uncovering traces of past lives and contemplating what is missing or left unfulfilled. Pockets become quiet repositories, holding secrets, forgotten memories or unseen places offering a space where the precious and the heavy coexist. In this excavation of personal history, Kelly explores themes of intimacy, emotional weight, and inherited burden, particularly through the lens of female experience.

The original ideas for this body of work were developed with the support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Major Individual Award, 2023 and The Maurna Crozier Bursary, 2025 awarded by Friends of The FE McWilliam Gallery & Museum, supporting a short residency period at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan, where the artist honed ideas in late 2025.

Photographs by Simon Mills.