Kelly Akashi: Artist Talk

With deft manual skill and deep material knowledge, Kelly Akashi’s visual language emphasizes the impermanence of the natural world, recording and indexing fragmented moments in time. Her practice is characterized by a rigorous conceptual approach, yet the work is distinguished by a deep reverence for process. Always a student, Akashi continually studies new practices and physical techniques, including glass-blowing, flame-working, casting, candle-making, and stone carving.

Born in Los Angeles in 1983, she holds a BFA from Otis College of Art & Design, an MFA from the University of Southern California, and studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Recent institutional solo exhibitions include the San Jose Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Henry Art Gallery, SculptureCenter, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano, among others. Public commissions include a monumental installation for JFK International Airport’s New Terminal One, the Hyundai Terrace for the 2026 Whitney Biennial, an upcoming outdoor sculpture commission for Williams College Museum of Art, and projects with the Aspen Art Museum and the Clark Art Institute. She is the recipient of the 2024 Distinguished Women in the Arts Award from MOCA Los Angeles, as well as grants from the Trellis Art Fund, Andy Warhol Foundation, LACMA Art + Tech, Peter S. Reed Foundation, and Tieger Foundation. Akashi serves as Core Faculty in Grad Art at ArtCenter College of Design, and in 2025 was selected as an Artist in Residence at Pilchuck Glass School.

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