Merle Keller

Artist Statement

For most of my professional life, I have been a storyboard artist for advertising agencies, work that involves conveying a story through pictures.  Seven years ago, I began to explore my own creative vision and chose oil painting as my medium.

My primary interest as an artist is in the visual expression of common, everyday scenarios in which characters act out a story. The subject matter reflects my own life experience and is thus very personal and sometimes autobiographical.  The main influences in my work are 20^th-century American Realism and 19^th-century Traditionalism.

The vast majority of my work is about people, ordinary people in everyday settings. People and portraiture have been my focus since I first began drawing as a child.  The drama and emotion of the human experience is there in a person’s face, in their posture and body language.

I want my paintings to imply a question and to evoke an emotion.  The imagery and color will ideally create a dimension beyond the surface and compel the viewer to infer a deeper message.