Submitted photos
Painter and poet Kelly McQuain at work in his backyard studio in Philadelphia.
WARDENSVILLE – Artist and Elkins native Kelly McQuain’s work is featured at the Grasshopper Gallery at the Lost River Trading Post in Wardensville in a new solo art exhibit titled “Ways of Seeing,” which will run through Aug. 28.
The show features nearly 40 new paintings and decorative objects celebrating the sacredness of our bond with nature, now during an era of increasing climate concern. The artist’s imaginative, fable-like depictions of fauna and flora feature images that frequently overlap–visual components pouring into one another in a way that evokes fluidity and the interdependence of life. Often, McQuain’s paintings look like one thing far away but something different close up.
McQuain’s wild creatures evoke dream-like stories designed to spark the imagination. Think of his imagery as avant-garde folk art filtered through a lens of 21st century psychedelia. Birds, ranging from scarlet raptors to blustering roosters, are a recurring motif, as are fish, goats and other whimsies yet to named–or tamed, for that matter.
McQuain’s imagery is inspired by his upbringing in Elkins, surrounded by the Monongahela National Forest. In several works, Appalachian textile designs and geometric underpainting morph into floral abstractions intermixed with farmland and woodland creatures.
McQuain was diagnosed with ADHD (inattentive type) as an adult. He describes the condition as akin to listening to a dozen radio broadcasts at once. This diagnosis accounts for why, growing up, McQuain was considered a distracted daydreamer by caregivers. It also explains why he found refuge in drawing and painting early on. McQuain’s day job is as a creative writing professor in Philadelphia, and his diagnosis prompted him to learn more about divergent mindset not only for himself, but to help his students become better creative problem-solvers no matter their thinking style.
McQuain’s artwork has won awards and received recognition in recent shows at Philadelphia City Hall, the Barnes Collection, the National Liberty Museum, the William Way LGBTQ Center, Cerulean Arts Gallery, and the Millay Arts Center.
In fall 2023, he was chosen as the Featured Artist for the annual international Art Ability exhibition held in Malvern, Pennsylvania. This annual show features work by artists coping with disabilities. In addition to ADHD, McQuain lives with HNPP, an inherited genetic nerve disease that falls under the muscular dystrophy spectrum that causes chronic pain and often affects the use of his hands. But he refuses to let his difficulties stop him. In fact, his advocacy for promoting the healing power of the arts led to 6ABC Action News naming him a Philadelphia “Hometown Hero” in November 2023.
That designation aside, McQuain considers himself a “Phillybilly”–part Philadelphian but still firmly a West Virginian, too.
“You can’t grow up in the Mountain State without forever remaining a little hillbilly at heart,” he said.
For more information, go to www.KellyMcQuain.wordpress.com.
