+ by Desiree Smith-Daughety + photos courtesy of Kelly Towles
Rooted in a strong sense of place, Kelly Towles has drawn inspiration from the communities that have surrounded him. Born in Ohio, Towles lived in two other states and Australia during his youth. During this time, he forged friendships in Annapolis, plunging himself into the music and arts scene. He appreciated how artists and musicians came together to support one another. “I always hold a beautiful place in my heart for Annapolis . . . because of the artist scene,” he says. “The time spent in Annapolis was a lot of laughing, fun. It was all creativity.”
His first artistic inspirations lead back to music, to the time when he’d copy heavy metal album cover artwork for fun. “It’s not really an art form anymore, it’s generated, which is fine. But I remember an artist, called Pushead [graphic artist Brian Schroeder], who’s known for his work with heavy-metal bands like Metallica,” says Towles. “His work is so intricate and detailed. It’s iconic, and it caught my imagination. I didn’t know how people think like this, but now I do.”
Other influences rotated between art, music shows, raves, and graffiti. Those latter two show up as a streak of rebelliousness and nonconformity still evident in his artwork. He marvels at the idea that graffiti was once seen as vandalism and now is recognized as a global art movement that is worth more than a billion dollars.
Towles was also influenced by a retail job he took around the time Fresh Fields was acquired by Whole Foods where he started doing hand-lettered chalkboard signage and display work. He continued with Fresh Fields but with a new role as a graphic designer, giving him the opportunity to teach himself graphic design programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, and did this type of work for 12 years. He parlayed these skills into working with bands on merchandise and stage design.
According to Towles, the playground for his art was created as a result of moving around when he was a child and learning to embrace his introversion and extroversion qualities. He can trace each thread of his art to the various influences that spawned them. Australia had a particularly strong impact on him. Its proximity to other countries allowed his family to travel to myriad places, including China and Japan. Influences from those countries can especially be seen in his tile work.
Viewing his creative process as a pathway, Towles believes graffiti painting led to mural painting and then art installations. “In the best way possible, not caring what others think and experimenting like a mad scientist in the studio. I’ll ask myself, ‘Can I do this or that?’ Being curious leads to breakthroughs that lead to new equations for your artwork and life,” he says.
His tile art started as an experiment in a dive bar bathroom where he merged graffiti art with tile work, inspired, in part, by subway stations. If one were to trace the influence of this thread of his art, they would find that it leads to Japan, a place he will find any excuse to visit. Towles appreciates the visual language that comprises everyday cultural and practical life there, including signage, stickers, masks, and shrines. He believes the juxtaposition between tradition, utility, and a sense of playfulness inspires his own work.
Towles committed to making his art career happen. “Around the time my son was born, I made the leap into being a full-time artist, and I’ve been doing that for around 14 years. With my artwork, and so much going on, I felt I had to do it now or never,” he says. “But I also needed to provide for my family. That was a huge catalyst.” The increased focus on his work also created opportunities to engage with and contribute to the communities around him.
Through his mural work, he has found that art can play a massive role in shaping neighborhoods. As director and curator of DC Walls Mural Festival, he organizes the annual event in which a preselected group of artists participate. Their task is to paint murals in Washington, DC, neighborhoods in need of a visual boost. He has found that this art form brings people together, whether through fostering accord or by inspiring heated debate.
Towles recalls one decade-old, animated conversation over a mural painted on the exterior of Tsunami, an Annapolis restaurant. The question revolved around what and who defines a city. Should Annapolis look a certain way, or can it evolve its presentation? Other areas are ripe for some color. Towles notes that Washington, Washington, DC, has a fair amount of dull, gray buildings—a perfect canvas for a muralist. When one is added, people see it and begin to visualize how gray concrete faces around them may be transformed to enliven a community.
His work has led to collaborations with NASA and National Public Radio (NPR). He was invited to attend a mural festival in Prague, Czech Republic, by a tour member he met while giving a VIP tour to businesspeople and city officials around Washington, DC, during a recent festival in the city. Towles sees creativity as something built through relationships, and this thread is from a combination of his early friendships with artists and musicians to people around the world who now reach out for advice, and he hasn’t forgotten those roots. “You’re not shit without your community,” he says. “I have to understand what got me here, and it was my community, and my way to give back is the festival.”
Towles’ favorite project is always his newest one. But while he remains ever interested in his current project, he also believes it’s not uncommon for each work to become progressively more complex than the last. He believes that the bigger the project, the more challenges an artist must navigate. However, his approach is to treat each situation as normal, quickly adapting to each new experience.
“Some people spend a lifetime trying to figure out who they are or what their art is about. I feel lucky that my process keeps pulling me forward,” Towles says, reflecting on his journey: “Every new body of work leads me to the next thing that matters—the next memory, influence, or feeling I need to follow. At the end of the day, I’m trying to make work that feels joyful, honest, and connected to the community around me.” █
For more information, visit kellytowles.com.
Photo by Bradley Johnson.
