Jessica Keteyian
I'm interested in the power of art to create shared experiences and realities that transcend societal and cultural boundaries. I like the idea that we can find connection through the commonality of our humanness. I am curious about how we find each other, how we can connect and converse through shared experience. And what if that shared experience is looking together at something we don't have words for? Can we play together in another dimension? Can we understand something deeply about who we are and why we're here?
In some ways my paintings are an ongoing conversation about structure. What is the structure made of? What is it holding? Can you see it? Is the structure the main focus? How does energy move inside and outside the structure? What does it mean to answer these questions in paint?
In other ways my paintings are a prayer to presence and listening. I listen to what the painting wants to be, and am most successful when I listen with deep presence. I am not religious, but I understand that this is the essential essence of prayer-- I am me and I am also connected to something larger. Added bonus: the universe speaks the language of color to me!
I grew up in a family of artists starting at Penland Craft School where my parents were teachers. As a kid I lived in Maine, North Carolina, the Dominican Republic, Santa Fe, Paraguay, and Cambridge Massachusetts. I studied dance and visual art at the Cambridge School of Weston, dance at the Boston Conservatory, performance art at Mass College of Art and got a degree in psychology from Harvard University.
I've worked in survey research, graphic design, and retail design. I've been a buyer, owned a store, and designed and manufactured home goods. I've been happily painting and living Seattle for the last 13 years-- the longest I've ever lived anywhere-- while my east coast witch lineage boils in my bones.
My side hustle is studying energy and holding space for humans that are healing and evolving. This influences my work in mysterious ways. Creating a painting often reveals an unspoken mystery to me, or illustrates something I haven't been able to put words to. That! That is why I spend time in my studio every day.