Josh Keyes
Gallery Affiliations: David B. Smith Gallery, Jonathan LeVine Gallery
Region: Pacific Coast
Website: http://www.joshkeyes.net/
City / State: Portland, OR
Sometimes animals emerge from the pages of my sketchbook
as singular studies occupying a diagrammatic space, while on
other occasions they wander through dystopian landscapes
like specimens or dioramas from a mysterious museum of
natural history. I build each painting like a collage, with multiple
references. Sometimes I use modeling clay to sculpt a maquette
of an animal head or other object to help see how light or shadows
fall over a form. The imagery that fascinates me is associated with
mythology and folklore, specifically the legends and stories that
take place in the space between dreams and nightmares. For
me, this area contains the strongest psychological relationship to
our present ecological situation and gives voice to the underlying
existential anxiety and uncertainty many people have about the
future.
![](https://nap-master.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/entry_thumb/public/keyes_exchangeA.2.jpg?_Mi0qf5V6EZ0c2b.Kvf4r.d7VCJxl.hV&itok=Q_EXSHCD)
![](https://nap-master.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/entry_thumb/public/keyes_tangledIIIB.2.jpg?LfsOontp9VVcCty8XEJGWT4zaYyTlvno&itok=0bDIXrTu)