Kathleen Keifer's diverse range of paintings offers a fresh perspective on the captivating California scenery, reimagining its iconic elements with a unique touch. Additionally, she presents a series of artworks that focus on reinterpreting segments of popular board games from unconventional angles, skillfully blending clever compositions with vibrant colors. As a prominent figure in the realm of New California Realism, her artistic influence is notable. Born and raised in Chicago, Keifer is a second-generation artist, her early exposure to art and her training were guided by her mother, who is also a fine artist.
Keifer’s
paintings focus on the complex relationship between time and timelessness. It
is the sheer visual interaction between the elements, taken in their bare simplicity,
that interests her. Water, sky, and architecture change their appearance with
the shifts in weather and light. Her broken brush strokes depict light and
color in luminous waves, dissolving form into a shimmering surface of vibrant
light. For her, painting captures the very essence of time and its passage.
Keifer is fascinated with isolating the objects in her paintings. She believes
that actual sites and places have an individual magic. Her goal is to take
objects from popular culture and paint them in a new context. She began painting
the silhouettes of lifeguard towers more as a pop art symbol than a landscape element.
