Kerr graduated with honours from Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, in 1978–81, gaining her higher diploma from the Slade School of Fine Art, 1982–4, and in the latter year a Boise Travelling Scholarship to Italy. In 1989 she won a Rome Award. Group shows included New Contemporaries, ICA, 1981; Domus Aurea, The Winchester Gallery, 1988; and East End Open Studios, at Metropolitan Wharf, 1989.