LOUISE KEEN
(b. 1963, Auckland, New Zealand)
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, 2013

Louise Keen is interested in exploring traditional craft techniques to repurpose ubiquitous objects in order to push the boundaries of the contemporary. 

Keen incorporates the methodology of collecting and the process of machine and hand stitching. She gathers the used plastic from her own consumption and the local environment, and in an attempt to redress the materiality and value of the discarded, she creates new paths of connection.

Keen works intuitively, flattening and overlapping planes. Layering and her full use of the transparent properties of the materials allows traces of her prior activity to be visual, creating an interest extending beyond the materiality of the work and contributing to a dialogue towards its possible social implications. 

Recent Projects include: Mixed Bag (solo), Skinroom Gallery, Hamilton, NZ (2019); Herbivorous (solo), Wallace Gallery Morrinsville, Morrinsville, NZ (2019); Comet Project Space, 400 Words, Auckland, NZ (2019); Finalist Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Whakatane, NZ (2019); Ooz Blooz (solo), Studio One Toi Tu, Auckland, NZ (2018); Small works show, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia (2017); PAPERWORK Exhibition, DEMO Space, Auckland, NZ (2017); Meditations (solo), Studio One Toi Tu, Auckland, NZ (2016); “fundamental disposition of the melancholic” (solo), Lot 23, Auckland, NZ (2015)

The links:
Louise Keen's Website