Keelan McMorrow is an autodidactic painter and artist from Chicago, Illinois. He began drawing at the age of two with pencils, crayons, and just about everything else that he could get his hands on and has been interested in art and all things creative ever since. As a painter Keelan works predominantly with oils, acrylics, watercolor and gouache, pen and ink, and graphite. His influences are diverse and include such differing styles and movements as expressionism, the Vienna Secessionists, art nouveau, surrealism, and back to the renaissance masters. Often described as an 'expressionist-realist', personal style is paramount to his work as it is a vehicle for the ideas he wishes to impart to his viewers; whether symbolic, archetypal, or emotive are the driving qualities behind a certain piece, Keelan wishes his work to transcend mere imagery and attain a certain significance within the minds of his audience.


Artist Statement 

....the proactive manifestation and incorporation of the aesthetic and the conceptual into a corporeal image or form. The elusive and oft-times paradoxical natures of human lives and experiences made meaningful and relevant, the irrational, rational. The celebration of joy and pain. Romance with substance....


'My work and art represent the constant struggle of my physiology, intellect, and
technical abilities in keeping pace with my emotions, ideas, desires, and fears within a consistently incredible and ever-changing world. Life and death, love and hate, faith, identity, and all of the infinite qualities of human spirit that define who we are and set the groundwork for what can shake us to tears, or rouse us to laughter, are inspirations for my work.

As a figurative and portrait artist, I most often depict a person or persons in my art. While a primary focus of mine when painting or
drawing a human subject is the accurate representation or portrayal of that person, I strive to do more than just capture a "good likeness"; rather I endeavor to detail an essence and a feeling behind that likeness. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I hope to accomplish something more within the paintings I produce by conjuring a spirit of emotive strength or power that finds a sympathetic rapport with the viewer. In form, color, light and shadow, texture, and composition I funnel my vision of the subject(s) onto the substrate through intuitive feelings of what "is right" as to the true depiction of the subject; I've learned to trust my senses within this process over years of practicing my art. I hope in the end that I might share with my audience much more than just a picture, but present something which appears as new as if it was revealed to them for the first time. What I paint is usually nothing new to any audience- as truly little ever really is. People, faces, and the symbolic devices I represent have been seen before, and depicted a thousand times over, throughout recorded history. It intrigues me, then, that no two paintings or works of art are ever alike, just as no two people are ever alike, or two flowers, or snowflakes, or colors.

The world offers an endless palette of images and colors. I revel in this revelation, and I exploit it to the best of my ability. For if no two images are exactly alike, then the experiences and impressions affected and witnessed through viewing and enjoying (or not enjoying) those images are never alike, whether between individuals, or between the different experiences of a single individual. The only problem arises when we become too accustomed to the plethora of imagery- through commercialism, mass-media, etc.- with which we are constantly bombarded and inundated with on a daily basis. Artists these days must work exceedingly hard to be noticed. If, then, a painting I have produced might give cause to an individual to stop, and reflect, or remember who we are as human beings and therefore who he or she is, then I have for my part- in however a small way- succeeded.

Life is a journey of high roads and low valleys, and I think that of our greatest blessings are our experiences- whether of beauty, joy, insight, and even pain- for what we experience with our senses and reflect not just in our minds, but in our hearts, is what makes us human. I want to try and make the most of that interplay, from both sides, while I'm here.'