Kelly Doley is an artist living on Gadigal land (Sydney) since the early 2000s. Born in Naarm (Melbourne) and raised in the Northern Rivers, she is of Scottish descent. Her practice encompasses painting, performance and curatorial projects. She has a current interest in working with hand-painted signwriting and slogans influenced by her father’s occupation as a commercial set painter and the lineage of feminist and queer art and activist practices. Most recently she has exhibited for Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (Melbourne), Thinking Business at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, MUMA Art You Can Wear project and NGV Design Store (Melbourne). Kelly is a founding member of artist collective Barbara Cleveland, represented by Sullivan+Strumpf.
As a resident of the Powerhouse NSW Creative Industry Residency Program, she is developing a new commission for Bus Projects, Melbourne in 2021 and developing the practice of signwriting, researching technique and archives in the Powerhouse collection as well as holdings of political posters and hand-painted signage in the archive.