Lois Keller
Studio City, CA
Lois Keller (b. 1968, Greenbay, USA) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. A prolific artist primarily working in painting and drawing.
Message
Writers and Actors Strike Los Angeles 2023
Plein Air Painting of the Los Angeles Writers and Actors Strike, 2023
Quiddity, the true nature of a thing
A narrative painting series about adoption. Shown at the University of Illinois Chicago and the Chicago School of Psychology.
The Wondering Eye
The Wondering Eye
by artist Lois Keller
I was drawn to “Hammond’s Nature Encyclopedia of America” because of it’s simple and honest way it categorizes and explains the natural world. Earth science is so much more of a mystery to me! These little drawings share my experience of wonder while pondering each subject. I drew on top of the handsome illustrations by Walter Ferguson in a way to share the unknown elements in nature that are not always so simply explained. The charcoal and pastel just sank into the paper of the pages from the 1966 edition and seamlessly transformed the image to express that sense of mystery I feel when observing the natural world. Combining these two perspectives through this drawing/collage technique each picture creates a new perspective on each subject.
Each picture is a framed 8 ½” x 71/2” pastel and charcoal drawing on an original page from the “Nature of the World Encyclopedia” 1966 edition, $100 each.
The Par King
In Los Angeles, they say the car is King. Then why do we have to pay the ParKing? ParKing gets first dibs on every joint in town, and gets paid to have it. No wonder all those meters have that smug look on their face…
The ParKing series pokes at the car-centric landscape of LA, playfully personifying the LADOT meters packed in across the city that occupy pedestrian sidewalk space. The ParKing is both spirited and sinister, surreal but hyperreal. The ParKing reminds the audience of the meters and pay stations that dominate this overpopulated cityscape, and take priority over the folks that inhabit it. Despite the grim picture of it all, the ParKing series contains the Angeleno spirit of creation: erecting art from struggle. The series uses multimedia material including recycled cue cards, cardboard stripes, colored pencils, and loose change.
Sketchbook
I have a daily practice of sketchbook work where I have filled pages and pages every morning with thoughts and visual reflections. I also carry one with me wherever I go to capture moments in time. The combination of my interior and exterior view fill these pages which I then use for inspiration for more developed artworks.
