Extracting Greed

Artist

Kally Jones

Artist bio

Kally Jones is a Tulsa based artist who truly encompasses the term Renaissance Woman. She graduated from RSU with her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Rogers State University and since then has worked as an independent contractor doing portrait work, murals, gallery installations, photography, and a dance instructor/choreographer. She performed as both a lead dancer for Legacy Professional Dance Productions and a member of their Hop Hop Crew for many years. As a choreographer, she has won numerous awards and recognition, most recently being a chosen choreographer for Cure-8, a choreographic mentorship program provided by RACE Dance Collective in Oklahoma City, the birthplace of the piece ‘STIGMA.’ She has collaborated with the Philbrook Art Museum to merge the performing arts and the fine arts through her movement-based class, ‘Move Like Monet,’ which teaches artists the importance of their intuition. Recently, she has stepped down as a full-time teacher at Attitudes Dance Studio of 10+ years and is now pursuing more artistic opportunities outside of teaching.

Visual Arts 2026 Contest

Title

Medium/Genre

Painting

Artist Statement

The world sets traps of comfort. We let fear of the unknown settle into the cracks, letting it harden and grow roots; we quit dreaming of what tomorrow could hold. We let fear tell us who we are. I create to make the shadows tremble and light a way through the murky waters of fear. I create to inspire individuality and bravery in one’s self. I lead with love, hoping to inspire people to dream again, to not be afraid of everything they were born to be. I create to break the seal of glue you used to secure your ceiling, to inspire the decision to dream again. I do not live a life separate from art. I combine the worlds of performing and fine arts, giving a whirlwind of dance painted in detail with color; celebrating subtle beauty and bold authenticity to guide us back to our original design.

How it fits into contest

Matthew 16:26
'What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? '

When we refine who we are, we have to cut away the things that were not in our original design. The negative tendencies that attach to us are painful to remove. When we live a life only for ourselves, for only what we can gain, we lose who He says we are.