January Gallery: Perfection Was Never the Point

Opens Friday, January 12, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Maureen O'Keefe is a realist.
Realism is in our flaws, our uncertainty, our mistakes, and even our sin.
I think that the culture I come from expects perfection and utilitarianism. I want to express that humanity isn’t that. Existence isn’t that. We are a messy species from our litter to our wars, our diversity, and our emotions. Our culture and capacity for abstract thought hint at something more than utilitarianism. Maybe the artist is a mirror so the world can see itself.

My blind-contour drawing process allows me to produce images of specific people that are sometimes identifiable in the details, but they are distorted, flawed, doubled or disjointed. The process takes away the hope of perfection from the outset. It is more real than realism. The beauty I find in my work is in its complexity- in its weirdness and its imperfection because that’s what I think of people. Humans are simple and mysterious; at once both worthless and of incalculable value, ugly and beautiful, defiant of the slim odds of existence and still so fragile. And perfection was never the point.

Stop by and view the beautiful artwork Tues - Thurs 10 am - 6 pm during open gallery hours!