“Self-portraits are a record of what the act of looking looks like,”
she says. When she paints herself, she quickly discards the famil-
iar aspects of her face and instead focuses on the process of seeing
and transposing the forms into paint. “I am not thinking about
making a good painting,” says Kehoe. “I am not thinking very
much about composition; I am not thinking about getting a like-
ness or of fl attering myself. Painting a self-portrait is pure per-
ception. Somehow I am able to work boldly, simply and quickly,
in a way that is not typical of the way I paint a still life.”
PERSONAE OF THE ARTIST Kehoe’s paintings easily lend
themselves to discussions of their formal qualities. Th e artist’s
process and choices reveal a mysterious coolness and perhaps
ABOVE: Kehoe constructed SP with Hat
(oil on panel, 6x6) with a few well-
chosen broad blocks of color.OPPOSITE: Kehoe formed the fl ower in
White Hydrangeas (oil on panel, 8x6)
with strong strokes of color, resulting
in a painting full of light.44 artistsmagazine.com
36_tam1216Kehoe.indd 44 9/22/16 8:33 AM