About
Irisa Kennedy
Irisa Kennedy is a Washington-based multidisciplinary artist whose work begins at the threshold between waking life and dreams. Her artistic journey began publicly at age eleven, when her first artwork was included in one of her mother's art shows in Sedona, Arizona. Since then, art has remained a way of translating the internal, imagined, and half-remembered landscapes of her life into forms that others can enter.
Working across mural painting, fine art, acrylic canvas painting, jewelry, crochet, and found-material creations, Kennedy is drawn to transformation: forming something new from pieces of old things that might otherwise be discarded. Her work often carries a sense of reclamation—of materials, memories, natural forms, and wonder.
Dreams are among the deepest sources of her inspiration. Her paintings are not intended to be only images to look at, but portals: invitations to step beyond the visible surface and dream oneself into another world.
Nature is equally essential to her visual language. Inspired by the flora, fauna, clouds, forests, and changing skies of the Pacific Northwest, her work moves between night-sky mystery and the intimate life of the landscape. Trees, flowers, clouds, and luminous details become both familiar subjects and symbolic passages between the natural world and the dream world.
A lifelong fascination with things that glow in the dark continues to appear throughout Kennedy's work, whether subtly or boldly. That childhood sense of awe remains at the heart of her practice: the belief that even in darkness, there are hidden colors, stories, and worlds waiting to be seen.
Artist statement
I am a visual artist working across mural painting, live painting, acrylic canvas, jewelry, crochet, and custom creative expression. My practice grows from a suspended surplus philosophy: I take what has been overlooked, discarded, or left behind and transform it into something luminous, meaningful, and alive. I am drawn to color, dream imagery, glow-in-the-dark elements, and work that invites both wonder and purpose.