Maureen Kelleher

Artist Statement

When I was 11 years old, I decided I hated art, I was not artistic, and I couldn’t do it. I vowed to never take an art class or have anything to do with art for the rest of my life. I told myself I was a thinker. I went through school and college (philosophy and foreign languages) and actively avoided anything art.

After college, I turned down a Peace Corps assignment and moved to New Orleans. I lived in The Crescent City for 23 years. I focused on helping the underdog (prisoners and mentally ill).

I made it all the way to 42 years and then I read a biography of James Baldwin. Something he wrote to his brother, coupled with a memory of my father’s advice to me as a teenager, set off an idea. That juxtaposition got translated into words, colors and images on wood. This effort became my piece JAMES and opened the floodgate; I’ve been painting, drilling, engraving, scoring, sanding and lugging stuff around ever since.

I left New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit [9/05] and relocated to Hoboken NJ. I found a studio share space in an old manufacturing building in Union City, NJ. I started to rebuild my life, my studio, and my body of work.

I have had no art training. I’ve been a quilter since my early 20’s and I’ve always loved words. In my late 20’s I got involved in prisoner issues [the Amnesty Int’l case of Gary Tyler] and then started working in the legal field. I was trained as a criminal investigator and came into contact with men on Death Row. I’m very much drawn to the heavier topics of life, and my spirit consistently veers toward the underdog.

I’ve drawn from my life and memories to cover the plywood and pallet. Tender strength all around me -- the absurd, the goofy, the sad, the really sad, the interesting, the wonderful, the stuff that makes me feel like shit, the stuff that brings tears to my eyes, the stuff that scares me, the stuff that makes me feel good, the stuff that just is -- waiting to be brought up and out.

Resume

Exhibitions

2/07	23rd National Show of the National Society of Artists, Houston TX
10/06	Old School, New School, No School 2006, Jim Thorpe PA AWARDED: Best No School
9/06	15th Annual National Juried Competition , Salisbury MD
9/05	14th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Salisbury MD AWARDED: People’s Choice Award
9/05	Alpan International 2005, Huntington NY AWARDED: Best of Show
3/05	Contemporary Women Artists Exhibit XIII, St. Louis MO Juror: Judy Chicago, Artist, Educator, Activist
2/05	7th Annual All-Media Exhibition, Washington DC
2/05	Artists Council 36th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Palm Springs CA AWARDED: 2nd Prize
5/04	6th National Juried Exhibition, Ceres Gallery, NY NY
9/03	8th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS: A Juried Exhibition of Louisiana Art Today, New Orleans LA

Education

BA, Philosophy, University of Florida, 1982