CATHERINE
KEHOE holds a
bachelor of fi ne arts
degree in painting
from Massachusetts
College of Art and
Design (Mass Art) and
a master of fi ne art
degree in painting from
the School of Visual
Arts, Boston University.
She currently teaches
painting and draw-
ing at Mass Art, and
her blog, Painting:
Powers of Observation
(powersofobservaton.
com), grew out of a
class of the same
name. A highly
awarded artist and
sought-after instructor,
she also teaches work-
shops at Black Pond
Studio, in a rural area
near Providence, R.I.,
and elsewhere around
the United States, as
well as in Europe.
Miller Yezerski Gallery
in Boston represents
her work.ONLINE:
Visit Kehoe’s
website at
catherinekehoe.com.
some distance. Even in such formal paintings, however, details
hint at the personality of the artist or perhaps comment on the
state of the world. In the still life paintings, quotidian objects
acquire new status: In Frosty Junior (page 42), for example, a
plastic Christmas decoration in the form of a snowman hovers
at the edge of the animate. In the self-portraits she assumes a
variety of personas; e.g., the private detective (“ just the facts
ma’am”) in a pork pie hat (see Doctor K’s new hat, page 42). Is the
silhouetted fi gure in the orange jumpsuit holding a mysterious
blue sphere a visitor from another planet or the future, or does
that fi gure represent a political detainee (see Orange Jumpsuit,
page 43)? Kehoe’s most mysterious self-portraits could be the
ones where she regards us directly. Th ey present a woman of
intelligence and sensitivity, with the ability
to transform the commonplace world that
surrounds us into radiance. Perhaps it is the
persona of a magician. ■
TIM KENNEDY (timkennedypaintings.com) is a senior
lecturer in the Painting Area at Indiana University
Bloomington. He exhibits his work regularly at First
Street Gallery in New York City.DECEMBER 2016 45
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