Torn from the Heart—the Paper Collages of Alice Kelly

Moorestown artist Alice Kelly, originally from upstate New York, often incorporates images from the Susquehanna Valley into her unique designs. Largely self-taught, Alice has utilized watercolor, pen and ink, oil, acrylic, fiber and mixed media as forms of expression. More recently, she mastered the art of paper collage to render imagery that captures her imagination, and her works in this format tease the eye with vivid complexity.

Inspired by nature, memories, and family, she uses sharp, short-bladed scissors and controlled tearing to build the components used in her “paper paintings.” The tiny pieces of paper are held with tweezers to control the shape during cutting and ultimately placement as she glues them into intricate compositions. When asked to describe her role in three words, Alice summarizes: “illustrator, story-teller, and explorer.”

Select works by Alice Kelly are now on display in the lobby of Beneficial Bank at 53 E. Main Street in Moorestown. This is the third exhibit of fine art or photography mounted by the bank, under the direction of branch manager Arpita Saha. “The ability to use the bank as a venue for local artists has been very rewarding to those of us who work here, and the exhibitions have been tremendously popular with the community,” notes Saha. “We are delighted that our bank is a place where people can connect with art.” Alice Kelly’s paper collages will be on display at the bank through February, and are available for public view during banking hours.

Kelly enjoys teaching others to use their creativity as well as providing instruction on specific techniques. To contact Alice about her artwork, email her at 55creativelady@gmail.com.