STATEMENT
I am a self-taught abstract expressionist painter. I work with oils, acrylics, watercolors, mixed media, and gouache. Many of my paintings move from abstract to interpreted realism. All my work celebrates color and movement. Using a wide variety of palettes, I construct joyous, dynamic paintings and always experiment with explosive forms of color. I enjoy working on larger canvases using different tools that I usually find at the hardware store.
In contrast, my monotypes are delicate, painterly, and quiet. I make monotypes using different techniques, such as monoprints, gelli prints, watercolor prints, and mixed media prints. Sometimes, I add other materials to a “finished” print, such as gouache. Likewise, I have tried adding dish liquid to two plates, wrapped them together with saran wrap, and after a week or two rolled each through the printer. The results are always surprising, often happily so.
I experience painting as a meditative process where materials lead the way. I sense my life force flowing through me while creating art. I love the serenity I feel inside while painting.
BIOGRAPHY
Cathy O’Keefe’s paintings have been featured in galleries and cultural centers including the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, New York; the IMAGO Gallery in Warren, Rhode Island; Medford Arts in Medford, New Jersey; and the Gallery @ Paragon in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. In New York City her work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Pictor Gallery, Pleiades Gallery, Ceres Gallery, Taller Boricua, P.S. 109, Carter Burden Gallery, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance; and the Greenpoint Gallery.
In addition, O’Keefe’s work is in numerous private collections as well as public and corporate collections, including those of the Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts in Brockton; Tri-Valley Transit in Middlebury, Vermont; the North Suffolk Mental Health Association in Chelsea, MA; and Eliot Community Human Services in Lynn, Massachusetts.
O’Keefe taught painting to seniors as part of a CAC grant and to seniors at Covello/Carter Burden Network and the YM/WHA in Manhattan. She is an active member of the New York Artists Circle, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and the New York Society of Women Artists.
O’Keefe learned her craft by studying great works of art at the many fine museums and galleries in New York and abroad, particularly in Paris, London, and Italy, as well as in other areas in the U.S. O’Keefe has taken courses at schools and venues in New York and Connecticut, including the New York Art Students League and Pratt, and the Washington Depot, Mattituck Museum, and Creative Arts Workshop.