When We Are Among the Trees

Kelly M O’Brien, When We Are Among the Trees. Installation view, DVAA Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. 2025

Kelly M O’Brien, When We Are Among the Trees. Cast biomaterials, monofilament. 12 H x 15 L x 2 D feet. Installation view, DVAA Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. 2025

Kelly M O’Brien, When We Are Among the Trees. Cast biomaterials, monofilament. 12 H x 15 L x 2 D feet. Detail view, DVAA Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. 2025

Kelly M O’Brien, The Light Falls From Their Branches. Cast biomaterials, monofilament. 12 H x 10 L x 2 D feet. Detail view, DVAA Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. 2025

Kelly M O’Brien, When We Are Among the Trees. Installation view, DVAA Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY. 2025

Kelly M O’Brien

Apr 05, 2025 - May 11, 2025

Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY

When We Are Among the Trees references Mary Oliver’s luminous poem of finding peace and redemption in a woodland. Sculptor and installation artist Kelly M O’Brien started this body of work upon returning to the US after living overseas and settling in a riparian pine forest. Exploring themes of care and repair related to climate change and biodiversity, the materials O’Brien works with—biomaterials that are plant-based and biodegradable—are at the heart of her practice.

O’Brien’s work draws out and explores themes around ecological uncertainty and relational entanglement, navigating and holding complex ideas lightly and nimbly. Full of creative and hope-filled perspectives, she presents inspiring new work spanning sculpture, wall-based art, and installation that offer curiosity, care, and agency as antidotes to climate, social, and private despair.