Evolution, Revolution: NYSWA Celebrates Centennial in Harlem - FF2 Media, September 20, 2022
“One such pairing is “Cave Wall Beginnings” by Kathy O’Keefe, highly active, gestural series of white scratched lines, glowing with an end-of-day-blue underpainting. In the exhibition catalog, the artist speaks of a similar reparation of history, and the acknowledgement that women were the first artists, unrepresented in archeology. In proximity to other artworks, these close set, rapidly-made lines recall other historical moments in which the female mind was quashed and relegated to the margins of society. They have a frantic, scrubbing quality, conjuring the gothic suburban archetype: the classic 1950s housewife. In this surreal world composed of lines, she might be washing dishes, mopping floors, or scraping away residues and stains. There is a violence to the line work, as it strips away and corrodes the canvas, again recalling the nature of household “women’s work.” She might be on her knees. She might be clawing for escape.”
“Featured Artist: Cathy O’Keefe,” Epicenter NYC, June 21, 2021
Cathy O’ Keefe, Pink, mixed media monotype on canvas board, 10″ x 8″.
O’Keefe is an abstract expressionist painter who works primarily in oils, acrylics, and mixed media. She was born in Connecticut and raised there and in New York City. She first became interested in art as a child and created illustrations, paintings, and sculptures as a teenager and young adult. Subsequently, O’Keefe worked as a technical writer for 20 years, returning to her first love, art, in 2012.