John Kelly's paintings are haunting.

A woman by a window looks at a bird. A woman looks out from under white drape. A woman looks in the mirror. Within each frame, he masterfully captures a psychological drama.

As Kelly's paintings offer his figures an intricate interiority, they simultaneously comment on the ever-changing relationship between viewer and model.

"Seeing a figure painted in a way that people can recognize easily creates an intimacy and a challenge that is visceral." says Kelly.

He opens up a conversation about gazes. Some of his models meet the gaze of the viewer, while others do not. In his Mirror series, his paintings seem to silently ask, "why are you looking at me?" or "Have you directed this same gaze to yourself"?

"By placing a human being in space, the artist tells a story about ourselves, and the people around us, our fantasies, our obsessions, our hopes, dreams, nightmares," says Kelly. "it is the point at which everything that makes us human starts." - Open Studios Blog