Allyson Keehan

Born in Limerick in 1978. Keehan graduated from Byam Shaw School of Art (University of the Arts London) in 2004 with a MA in Fine Art, after completing a BA(Hons) Fine Art Painting in 2002 from Limerick School of Art and Design. Keehan has exhibited widely including London, Berlin and extensively through Ireland, including being an invited artist in this years RHA Annual. Recently Keehan undertook a residency in Takt Berlin. She now lives and works in Dublin. My practice oscillates between painting and installation. Predominately painting representational paintings of drapery, however I'm also interested in the process of the pieces and their elaborate set-ups and installations, which are further documented in photographs and cataloged. My process is hugely impacted by the studio space through controlling and manipulating the space for each painting's set-up. The two major concerns in the work are space and light. I'm interested in how changing one element in the set-up can change the whole body of work. Recently working with blue and white lighting, I create an engaging abstract dimension to the work. Currently, I'm focusing on geometric shapes in the material which exaggerate the abstract quality in the paintings, and occassionaly I integrate singular objects to distrupt the uniform landscape, so textures and solid forms juxtapose the subdue flow of the drapery. These objects are both concealed and revealed within the drapery. This intricate composition establishes the visual dialogue around the painting.

www.allysonkeehan.com

Allyson Keehan