Lois Keller (b. 1968, Greenbay, USA) Keller earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison after attending Elmhurst College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lois had a long career painting for Opera, Ballet, and Theatre as a scenic artist and restoring historic painted architecture like The Colonial Theatre in Boston until finally settling in Los Angeles to raise a family. A prolific artist at home, her family had taken precedence over engaging her art publicly but has now been actively showing her work again. Solo shows include the UIC Gallery, Chicago, and The Chicago School of Psychology. She has participated in group exhibitions around the world such as The ArtHouse Hotel, NY, NY, James May Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, The Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, Pico House Gallery, Los Angeles CA, and in Salisbury, England. Recently, the Los Angeles Metro Neighborhood Poster Series she created is being reissued, she has signed with Off the Walls, a gallery that places art in TV and film productions, and completed a Residency at Chateau Orquevaux in France. She lives and works in Los Angeles.
About
Matilija Poppies
I don’t paint the Matilija poppies because they are pretty–I paint them because they are in front of me. They grow in the mountains, but also alongside the concrete river and paved highway, next to tents, garbage, and striking union writers. The poppies burst open and hold the wind in their petals as the June gloom runs through Southern California. I feel a sense of belonging to the natural world as I paint them, knowing that they can exist alongside humanity with me.
The story of the Matilijas is one of constant renewal. These past two years, I have been photographing and painting their stages of growth, ever changing and ever-so beautiful, continuing to thrive amongst the gray slabs that beckon their demise. This is the story of Angelinos at large, fighting the urban divide of the city in hopes of creating beauty and community through art and service. The Matilija Poppy series holds the potential to inspire Californians to learn more about the wildlife that surrounds even the dimmest of terrain, and connect with nature through the observance of this native Californian beauty.