Marla-Sunshine Kellard-Jones graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2024 and has shown her work in numerous group shows, most recently A Pocket Full of Plenty with Papillon at Hypha Studios, London. Kellard-Jones’ practice employs universal archetypes, symbols, and commonly enacted rituals as a means of opening discussions around often unspoken and inescapable aspects of life, such as death and familial relations.
Lot 119. Marla-Sunshine Kellard-Jones - Mothering, plywood, faux suede, fleece, buttons (Left)
Lot 120. Marla-Sunshine Kellard-Jones - Grandmother, plywood, faux suede, fleece, buttons (Right)
How do your works typically begin, from an idea, a feeling, or something else entirely?
The genesis of my practise, and resulting works starts with a feeling and, or a desire to express, to share an internalised experience. The desire, the feelings of each as-yet unrealised piece and what it communicates to me is what drives the intention behind how the piece might be actualised – how I work to the physicalising of an idea – part of this process begin the materials I source or mediums (music, texture, etc), used. Every detail must be in line with, embody, what it is I wish to represent, that is in turn communicated to the viewer.
Your work engages with archetypes, symbols, and rituals to explore the intimate unspoken aspects of life. What drew you to these themes?
There is a universality and relatability that we as humans use to express death, dying and mourning. These symbols, these shared intimacies of life are important to our shared communications which is why they feature within my work. My aim is always for the viewer to connect and see themselves within the work’s narrative – to know and share with the intimate element of quietus. My work aims to be a space for gathering – I want my work to be authentic in the many ways it embraces the rituals, archetypes and symbols of life’s end.
Your practice similarly engages wit and humour, what role do these emotions play in your exploration of loss?
Laughter, humour is often a tool, a coping mechanism we as humans use to redirect sadness. My work always aims to be imbued with sincerity, opposed to being actively funny – something I feel would be a disingenuous, when engaging with the exploration of loss deep-rooted feelings that might elicit responses such as laughter. I include wit to ease the tension that I feel one might have when faced with a work which is intrinsically sad, but it is the viewer’s choice whether to laugh or not because it is innate to laugh but that is not my work’s sole purpose. Its purpose is to engender authentic emotions – and if laughter is how some manage their emotions so be it. I often feel it is the viewer who brings the humour, not me, through their engagement with the work being completely unique and a result of their life, and individual experiences.
Do you find it challenging to convey these intangible emotions through physical sculptural form, to what extent do the materials you select influence the feeling expressed by the work?
Directness is important when speaking on such personal but generic experiences, it is easy for things to be misconstrued, and so by being direct I want to cut away any opportunities for miscommunication. I think to convey the intangible through a physical form feels right. I don’t think that emotions are intangible because the results of them are real: tears, actual heartbreak, etc. It doesn’t feel strange to me to physicalise them because within all of us are real experiences of the emotions, and associations with them. My work is aiming to connect them, and it is connecting to them that is deeply important to me.
Lot 117. Marla-Sunshine Kellard-Jones - Rotten, collage on paper (left)
Lot 118. Marla-Sunshine Kellard-Jones - Apple of, collage on paper (right)
Visit Marla's Website
Questions by Victoria Lucas
