Kodi Delaney Uses Art as a Tool to Heal From Childhood Trauma

As Kodi Delaney prepares for her first Denver gallery show, she's taking nothing for granted. “Growing up, I would have appreciated seeing art that supported and validated what I was feeling when I was at my lowest,” says Delaney, a queer, neurodivergent survivor of childhood abuse whose work reflects the mental and physical effects of domestic violence.

“I often felt like I was alone on an island," she says of growing up in Greeley. "Most people had happy childhoods, and I felt like I was alone because of my traumatic relationship with my family. I hope this gallery connects people who have survived or need help. If telling my story can make people feel less alone or take steps toward recovery, I will have done my job as an artist and advocate.”

Delaney’s A Death in the Family opens February 3 at RemainReal Fine Art. The show is a passionate and unapologetic take on mental health and the artist's experience navigating family dynamics while recovering from childhood trauma.

“My dad was an abusive alcoholic, and my mother had been in a car accident in her twenties and had untreated mental health issues that prevented her from escaping the abuse. It was incredibly isolating as a child,” she says. And when she and her mother told the police about their situation in 2012, her father committed suicide.

“In my twenties, I had pretty severe depression because of this experience, and I had a hard time adjusting,” Delaney recalls. “My friends didn’t have complicated relationships with their parents, and I couldn’t get doctors or professors to take me seriously at the time. I learned quickly that the world doesn’t want to take care of vulnerable people. If I talked negatively about my dad to strangers, people would say, 'Why would you say that about your dead dad?' or 'I’d kill myself, too, if my kid spoke about me like that' — which was very hard to hear and made processing the situation even more difficult.”

Although Delaney enrolled at Colorado State University in 2013 as an art major, her mental health challenges made it difficult for her to focus on school. After some time away from classes, she transferred to Metropolitan State University in 2019 as a pre-med student. But as she neared graduation, she realized she didn’t want to be a doctor.

“I had done this internship that made me realize, even though I liked science, I didn’t like doing it as a job,” Delaney says. “Which threw me into a bit of a limbo.”

While studying biology at MSU, she had continued to create art, including doing work for Sunrose Art. So when the pandemic hit, Delaney and her partner decided that she should stay home and work on her art.
“During this time, I created a lot of art processing my mental health and PTSD,” Delaney says. “I was just making all these pieces that focus on how these issues affected me long-term mentally and physically. When I posted some of my work online, my art career took off.”

Delaney now has a strong social presence, including an Instagram account with over 60,000 followers and several Instagram reels with over 2,000,000 views. She also has a TikTok account with over 32,000 followers and more than 623,000,000 likes.

“When I first started posting at the start of the pandemic, TikTok was the Wild West," Delaney recalls. "You could go viral very quickly, especially with art content." While her online platform increased her sales and helped her connect with other survivors, it also led to her encountering a lot of trolls.

“I don’t think a person can truly be prepared for the experience of going viral,” Delaney says. “You get a lot of love, but there is also a lot of hate, especially given that I was posting about domestic violence, PTSD and sexual assault. It’s hard to be a woman in the public eye who talks about that stuff. I’ve had a few mental breakdowns due to the slut-shaming, death threats and criticism I’ve received online; however, I’ve hardened myself, because I don’t want a few hateful people to take down this positive experience.”

Along with cultivating her digital presence, Delaney has created exhibitions across Colorado. Following a solo at Blo Back Gallery in Pueblo, Delaney was approached by Diane-Marie Haddad, owner of RemainReal Fine Art, and gallery director Michael Gutowski about putting together an exhibition for their space in the Art District on Santa Fe.

Delaney thought that the gallery would be a great place to showcase her art for people who aren’t on social media or simply appreciate seeing art in a gallery space.

“I believe seeing art in person can connect you with other people differently,” Delaney says. “My art features heavy textures and gold elements that don’t always transfer well in an online format. I’m making art that has an important message that speaks to a lot of people, so it’s important to have a social media presence as well as physical shows, so that community members can find the art.”

The gallery is hosting an opening reception that will include a live performance by Delaney. She describes it as a short monologue based on her favorite episode of the television show BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro,” in which the main character gives a speech at his mom’s funeral about how the abuse he experienced as a child affects him as an adult.
“I plan to keep the performance as light and accessible as possible without watering it down so much that it dismisses the topic,” Delaney notes. “But if people think the subject matter might be too much to handle, the performance will just be the first fifteen minutes at the start, and then after I’ll be in the gallery to talk with people about the artwork.”

Delaney has also organized a February 17 fundraiser at the gallery in partnership with SafeHouse Denver, a local organization that works with survivors of domestic violence. “As an artist who thinks of myself as an activist, the best way to help is by partnering with these charities who are already doing amazing work within the community,” Delaney says. “To work with these charities and have an event where my art is not only featured but supports the effort of SafeHouse feels amazing. [SafeHouse] has the resources to help people who are affected by the issues my art discusses and that is so close and personal to me.”

A Death in the Family will be up at RemainReal Fine Art through March 2, and Delaney encourages people to see her work in person. “I hope my art can offer people hope for the future,” she says. “I feel like I’ve gone through the wringer and come out full of hope and healed. Whether you are struggling or just looking to understand further, coming to the gallery can help build empathy and provide a valuable perspective on surviving childhood trauma.”

A Death in the Family opens Friday, February 3, with a reception from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.; the show runs through March 2 at RemainReal Fine Art, 901 Santa Fe Drive. Find more information on the show and the February 17 fundraiser here.