Final- Artist Statement & Bio

“Girl”

Artist Statement:

As an artist, Sammy Keane would say she is a perfectionist in the hopes of becoming more fluid. Lately, she has been finalizing works with light hatchings to add shading and depth. Keane enjoys working most with pencil, however, she is in the process of trying to expand and become more comfortable working with more drawing materials. Keane is still trying to find herself as an artist, but she is usually guided by emotional and physical influences. She has always admired Jenny Saville’s and Jean-Michel Basquiat's works and how they create a form with such fluidity. However, Keane has learned the most from her own mistakes. She constantly tells herself to step back and put her work on the wall when she becomes frustrated, it allows her to see her own pieces from a different perspective.

In Keane’s series “Girl”, she has four consecutive works that describe how she feels girls should act nowadays; strong and unbothered. In “Girl”, Keane used materials such as graphite, watercolor, marker, and glitter. This series was inspired by her own personal identity along with attitudes and actions she has noticed from generations coming after her. Keane is most proud of this work because it connects present society to the future. Some themes that Keane focuses to incorporate into her work, “Girl” especially, are strength, feminism, freedom of speech, and overall equality. Keane feels that the textual piece is the most powerful in this series; it ties all the other works together. The other three drawings construct and illustrate moments where women should take power and stand up for what they believe and think. For this work, Keane looked to artists such as Diego Fazio, Jenny Saville, and Rik Reimert to notice their combination of mediums and works that have a consecutive looking series. She also looked at many reference photos to give her inspiration and make to force her to not just copy each photo, she is working to add her own artistic flair to each piece.

For most of her works, Keane combines photos that she has saved with her imagination and life experiences to create something that is most pleasing to my eye. The more Keane gets lost in found photos, the more she becomes excited about what theme she will try to convey. While Keane is creating, she tries her best to remind herself that she is ultimately making this work for herself and no one else.

Bio:

Sammy Keane was born in Detriot, Michigan. She started making art in High School in Orlando, Florida. She is currently working to get her BFA at Chapman University in the Spring of 2020. Her work as a fine artist is mainly influenced by life experiences that connect to her physical state and emotion. Keane mainly works in pencil, however, she has created pieces in all mediums. She has presented work at SACI (Studio Arts College International), OTIS, and Chapman University. Her work is visible on Instagram (@sammygraceart) and on https://sgkeane.wixsite.com/mysite.

Rik Reimert

Reference

Diego Fazio

Reference 

Rik Reimert

Jenny Saville