Kelly Witmer was born and raised in Pennsylvania and currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, CA. She received her BFA from University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with additional studies at Parsons School of Design in Paris. She has attended residencies at Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Maine, ArtVallarta in Mexico and Can Serrat in Spain. Her public art installations can be found in the Echo Park and Eagle Rock neighborhoods of Los Angeles and Santa Rosa, CA. Link to full CV here.

Combining glass with ceramic began as an experiment, and I continue to push the boundaries of glass in the kiln, sometimes bringing it to the point of boiling over. Finding just the right temperature can vary within a few degrees. I embrace the unexpected results and often let chance lead the way to the finished work.

I’m fascinated with the magical worlds the bubbles and reflections in the glass create. The translucent shapes invoke a duality - acting as a metaphor of behavioral transparency. They can represent buried emotions or memories that sometimes come to light.