Katie O'Keefe was raised in a quiet village in the Hudson Valley, New York. From the age of 14 Katie has been dealing with Chronic Lyme and her experience with this illness has had a great impact on her creative work. Throughout her teenage years, she studied drawing and painting at The Art Effect (previously known as the Mill Street Loft) in Poughkeepsie NY. When Lyme temporarily limited her dexterity she shifted her practice to adapt; discovering the joys and sensuality of working with thread.
In 2006, I received my MFA from Rinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art where I was awarded MICA and Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships and a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship. Since graduating I have been an active participant in Baltimore’s local art scene. I am an adjunct III faculty member at Towson University and the Maryland Institute College of Art, as well as an independent curator. I was the director of exhibitions and curator at Goucher College for over ten years, where I programmed and mounted over 100 exhibitions.
My work is a reflection of reality in a playful dream-like state. As a daydreamer, I enjoy the present where I can take in the world around me. Many of my works are based on my own experiences with a twist of surrealism; as the illogical and unusual best express my thoughts. My work includes printmaking and graphic design. My Printmaking is organic and gestural as compared to my graphic design work, which is tight and polished. I have grown to learn and appreciate these differences from working closely with both mediums.
MIxed Media and Visual art educator in Baltimore County. MICA Grad.
I’m a self-taught fiber artist based in Bethesda, Maryland. My artistic journey has been almost entirely in the realm of fiber arts, including quilting, embroidery, and mostly wool sculpting. Many of my works are figurative sculptures; which explore the nexus between humans and the natural world, and the vagaries of human life on earth.