Saskatchewan Artist

Lady of Land and Air - detail - 2010 - by Margaret Keelan - photo by Scott McCue

Margaret Keelan

Margaret Keelan was born in 1948 in Regina, Saskatchewan. She studied at the University of Saskatchewan under James Thornsbury, receiving her Advanced Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts in 1970. Keelan then taught art classes at Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery (1972) and led ceramics workshops for the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Department (1972-1973).

Keelan furthered her art education through classes at the university's Regina campus with Joe Fafard (1973). She went on to graduate studies at the University of Utah under Marilyn Levine (1974-1976). Keelan then moved to California, where she taught art at several institutions, including the Richmond Art Centre (1984-1985), San Francisco State University (1991), Studio One (Oakland, 1994), and the San Francisco Academy of Art (1994-present), where she is currently Assistant Director of Fine Arts – Sculpture.

Since her graduate studies, Keelan's work has incorporated the human form, and her most recent clay sculptures are of doll figures that appear as though they are made of weathered wood. Themes of aging, decay, and beauty are expressed through these pieces. Says Keelan, “For twenty-four years I have used the female form as my main source of inspiration, and clay, because of it’s endless possibilities in construction and surfaces, as my primary media. My sculptures have always been self-referential; expressing concerns and experiences I live out in myself and observe in others around me.”

Keelan's work has been exhibited extensively and frequently throughout Canada and the United States. Her work is represented in collections the Claridge Collection (Montreal), Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), Art Gallery of Hamilton, Loyola College (Maryland), and Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery (Claremont, California).

Margaret Keelan lives San Francisco and teaches at the Academy of Art.