Kelly Jean Egan is a native of South Africa who studied at the University of Cape Town and Cape Town College of Fashion Design and Construction. She has worked as a professional writer and, since relocating to San Francisco in 2023, has published art criticism in Juxtapoz, Roborant Review, and on Medium, as well as written various exhibition statements, artist biographies, and articles.

Egan is also an artist who works in abstraction, building textured surfaces that echo a life shaped by music, film, and writing. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, and she has co-curated and produced shows at Upper Market Gallery, BirdHouse Gallery, Incline Gallery, and more. 

Before turning to painting full-time, Egan spent years in the commercial film industry as a set designer and wardrobe artist, toured as the bassist in a punk band, The Dollfins, and worked in New York as an artist assistant to Duke Riley and executive assistant to writer Caroline Zinsser. 

She lives in San Francisco with her husband and their young son.