Selected exhibition · 2026
Verum Ultimum Art Gallery
Chasing Ghosts 10
Auspices was selected for inclusion in Chasing Ghosts 10, an online group exhibition exploring remembrance, legacy and the unseen.
01 / Origin
Joel Kelley Artist & creator of bonart
Life and beauty
from pain and loss.
Joel Kelley brings more than thirty years of graphic design to bonart. His JDKdesign portfolio fills more than 300 pages of sample books. Across those pages, Kelley worked with a question that still interests him on bone. Where does the eye go first, and what does it discover when it stays?
On a weathered skull, part of the composition is already there. A fracture can give a drawn line its direction. A patch of bare bone can hold as much attention as the most intricate passage of color. Kelley works by hand, drawing and painting in response to the surface, finding in each piece a way to speak about loss and the beauty that can follow.
The work draws on Cherokee and Chickasaw family heritage, survival and second chances.
Explore Kelley’s design portfolio
Authentic Materials. Original Artistry.
Every bonart original is a physical, one-of-a-kind artwork created by Joel Kelley on genuine, ethically sourced animal bone. Years of exposure to the elements leave each piece with its own character—weathered surfaces, natural variations, fractures, and traces of a previous life. Kelley works directly on these surfaces by hand, often devoting many hours to painstaking detail and creative exploration. The bone is not a replica, and the artwork applied to it is not AI-generated.
Dimensions, weight, and mounting or display considerations vary with each original. Please inquire for details about a particular work or artist-authorized reproduction options across selected materials, substrates, textures, and finishes. Reproductions are distinct interpretations of the original artwork, not replicas of the physical sculpture.
AI-generated environments and visual treatments are used to suggest architectural settings, display possibilities, and creative applications. These images are conceptual presentations—not photographs of actual installations—and should not be relied upon for exact scale, mounting details, or material appearance.
