Alison Keenan lived in Burma before returning home to England to complete her art education and later lived in Italy and Egypt where she studied Aubusson and Gobelin Tapestry. In 2008, she graduated from Emily Carr University Canada and in 2010, she received a Certificate in Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University. Her portfolio includes national and international exhibitions, awards and murals, an online catalogue, guest speaker, artist’s residences, and videos. She has recently completed a commissioned 22ft.wide mural in Yaletown. Vancouver Canada
Keenan’s new paintings and large murals continue her in-depth exploration on the theme of Avian Fables where in collage or paint she envisions surreal imaginary stories. Scale is often arbitrary and non-perspective and the difference between the characters depicted as birds and humans are fanciful. Keenan explores engaging stories in the surreal bodies of land and water found on the shoreline while aided by avian guides, the harbingers of seasonal and environmental change. http://www.alisonkeenanpaintings.com
Keenan’s practice currently utilizes the notion of a new era beginning in February 2020, when the virus was named and later became a pandemic. Her new painting series, beginning with Photosythesis, would not refer to Covid-19 images or be read as oppressive in any way. Noting that as the skies began to clear, and the world began to breathe again, a surreal landscape emerged. Psychologically influenced by isolation her practice reflects a yearning to escape the changed world while suspended in the process.