Fine Art · Lambertville, NJ
A World
Translated
in Paint
Impressionist landscapes, classical portraiture, and large-scale collaborative works created across five continents over three decades.
Time Gone By · Oil on Canvas
Artist's Statement
Practice & Philosophy
"The experience of making art should be shared - and life should be an adventure."
Sullivan's paintings arise from rigorous observation and a commitment to presence - on location in the Delaware River valley, in the mountain West, in the markets of Haiti, the rice fields of India, and the villages of Uganda. Her classical training in oil is evident in her control of value, color temperature, and edge - yet each canvas retains the vitality of direct encounter.
Her fine art practice and her collaborative work are not separate: both proceed from the conviction that art is most powerful when it moves between people.
The Work
Three Collections
Sullivan's body of work spans more than three decades of painting on five continents. Browse by collection, or view the full archive.
Signature Practice
FingerSmears
Collaborative
Works
Since 1994, Sullivan has produced a singular body of collaborative painting - large-scale works on single canvases, made without brushes, with hundreds or thousands of participants. The result is a form of social portraiture: the painting as record of collective presence.
Over 100,000 people have participated in FingerSmears events across five continents. Each work is commissioned for a specific context - an institution, a community, an occasion - and bears the irreducible mark of that context.
Featured Work
Rock and Roll Voodoo
Co-created with The Rolling Stones and their guests at their private Halloween party, Warfield Theater, San Francisco - October 31, 1994. An 88" x 68" acrylic on canvas; a landmark in Sullivan's FingerSmears practice and in the history of rock-and-roll as cultural artifact.
View Documentation
The Artist
Kelly Sullivan
Born in Clinton Township, New Jersey, Sullivan knew she was an artist at five years old. Her grandmother's instruction - don't be shy with the paint - became the refrain of a career defined by directness and audacity.
Her early musical portraiture - including Bruce Springsteen, John Lee Hooker, BB King, and Pete Seeger - was exhibited at Ambassador Gallery in SoHo alongside Jerry Garcia and Ron Wood, and hung at BB King's Blues Club in New York.
Sullivan has produced artist residencies and community art programs on five continents. Her Mighty Fingers Facing Change initiative empowers adolescent girls through collaborative art-making in underserved communities globally.
Studio & Enquiries
Visit the Studio
The Lambertville studio is open to collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts by private appointment. Original works, commission enquiries, and institutional proposals are all welcome.