Life Drawing

The 'Life Drawing' series followed 'Cross Roads Blues' in 2020, during a period of introspection. This shift began when Kellett became intrigued by the circular marks left inside cups and bowls from regular stirring. These marks—subtle, yet persistent—became the foundation for Kellett’s ritualistic practice of drawing, which he engaged in daily. Kellett’s fascination with the circle is deeply influenced by Eastern philosophy, where the circle represents both the eternal and the divine. In Zen Buddhism, the hand-drawn circle, or ensō, symbolizes enlightenment—an experience that cannot be explained, only realized by someone who has achieved a state of mental emptiness. “I’m looking for a moment when someone is psychologically detached from the physical space they occupy—alone with their thoughts, even if only for a few seconds.”



“In 2019, washing up bowls my children had been eating ice cream out of, I couldn’t help but notice the grey silvery lines left behind by the spoon as they repetitively scraped around the bowl to collect every last drop of ice cream. Looking closer at my collection of cups and bowl, over many years the humble repetitive actions of stirring, mixing, scraping and whisking had left behind years of silvery descriptions on the inside of the white glazed tableware.





The circle is considered the most universal of all basic shapes. With no beginning or end, its form is associated with The Eternal and the Divine. In Zen Buddhism the hand drawn circle represents Enlightenment and it’s believed the emptiness within a circle can’t be explained, only experienced. As I looked down at the bowl in my hands, and the marks left behind through the most humble of everyday actions, I felt like I was holding something connecting me with the most universal of experiences, which artists for hundreds of years have attempted to articulate and what Baudelaire called in The Painter of Modern Life, ‘The eternal in transitory’.”

Oli Kellett