About the Artist

Maureen O’Keefe is a portrait and figure painter living and

working in mid-western Ohio.  The process for Maureen's current body of work involves a return to the blind-contour drawing that is taught in beginning art classes. The artist never lifts the pencil from the surface and never looks at the drawing; only at the subject. Once a line drawing is finished, she has a template for a finished work.  Her work investigates identities and belonging, often in a religious or spiritual context.

Maureen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2005.  Maureen is a recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for FY2019 and has exhibited widely. In January of 2023 Maureen was an artist in residence at the Chateau Orquevaux in Orquevaux, France.  She has been teaching drawing and painting courses at Edison State Community College since 2009.

Artist’s Statement

What is the basis of our worth as human beings?