The Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
Dictionary of American Ceramics, 1945 onward
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Margaret Keelan
EDUCATION
1970 BA University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
1976 MFA University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE
1994-2010 Ceramics, Independent Study, Ceramics Sculpture, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
1994-2010 Introductory Ceramics, Ceramics Sculpture, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
1997-2010 Associate Directory of Sculpture, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
1998-2010 Expression & Composition, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California
BIOGRAPHY
Margaret Keelan is known for super realist doll like figures. The figures are hand built, however they include cast components for the heads and hands that are cast in molds made from 19th century dolls. The pieces are glazed, stained, fired then glazed, stained, fired multiple times. This process gives the figures an aged appearance with surfaces reminiscent of those seen on Santos, Mexican and Central American religious figures. Keelan’s super realistic approach to her own subject matter may be a result of her working with Marilyn Levine.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“A Female Form, The Sculpture Techniques of Margaret Keelan”. Ceramics Monthly 47, no. 7 (September 1999).
Coon, Cheryl. “Margaret Keelan: Profile.” New Ceramics (May/June 2011).
Garcia, Edith. Ceramics and the Human Figure. London, England, A & C Black Publishers Ltd., 2012.
Gunter, Veronika Alice. 500 Figures in Clay: Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Human Body in Clay. New York, NY: Lark Books, 2004.
Held, Peter. A Human Impulse Figuration: from the Diane and Sandy Besser Collection. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University Museum Ceramics Research Center, 2008.
Nigrosh, Leon I. Sculpting Clay. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications, 1991.
Peterson, Susan. Working with Clay. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
_____________. Contemporary Ceramics. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill, 2000.
_____________. The Craft and Art of Clay, 2nd and 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995, 1999.
Schwartz, Judith. Confrontational Ceramics. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 2008.
Speight, Charlotte F. Images in Clay Sculpture. Harper and Row, 1983.
Watson-Jones, Virginia. Contemporary American Women Sculptors. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1986.
Yochum, Michael. “Illuminations, Ones to Watch, Margaret Keelan”. Western Art and Architecture 2, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2008).
WEBSITE(S):
Citation: "The Marks Project." Last modified July 27, 2023. http://www.themarksproject.org/marks/keelan
