Kelly McKernan is a 2009 graduate of Kennesaw State University where she obtained her BFA with a concentration in drawing and painting. Over the last few years, she has been exhibiting her work locally with galleries such as Beep Beep Gallery, Young Blood Gallery, and MINT Gallery, as well as nationally with the likes of Thinkspace Gallery and Nucleus Gallery in Los Angeles as well as at the prestigious Art Basel Miami. Kelly's work has been printed in numerous publications and she has also been published as an illustrator for two children's books to date. She is a member of two Atlanta art collectives - The Cheap Paper Collective and Brain Camp. She currently resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, Reed Cavanah.

Kelly's work is defined by internal struggle in its many forms through personal growth. She illustrates various situations for her female protagonists to interact with through symbolic elements in vague settings. These scenes often comment on the operating consequences of idealism and fantasy due to naivety and youth with two opposing forces at work: natural inclination versus cognitive reasoning. These rival dualities are further represented by stylistic differences and the contrasting mediums of photography and painting. There is deeply personal meaning to be found as the multi-layered struggles depicted in her current body of work reflect her interests and concerns as a growing woman with a penchant for idealism.