Paula Keyth

Paula Keyth grew up in New York City. She also lived and studied art in the United Kingdom, San Francisco, Rome and Portland, Oregon. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute, and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she graduated with a B.F.A. She currently works as a Peer Support Specialist and Recovery Mentor in the community of Sandy, Oregon. Pulling from her multifold experiences, including trauma, recovery, music, and her work as a peer, she aims to heal through the act of art making.

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"In this latest series, I use painting, drawing, and collage to assemble a cast of creatures that live between the dystopian civilization of humans and the natural world of flora and fauna. Hybrids, giants, ghosts, and chimera exist in this liminal space. The work is greatly influenced by fairy tales and mythology and is a mashup of my personal experience, surrealism, and the sacred. There is a major focus on the female perspective and the goddess spirit.

My process involves cutting up magazines, assembling images, and drawing and painting over them to create mythic landscapes. The physical act of collaging and painting is a constant dance between layering and subtracting, symbolizing life’s struggle. Making art is the way I process trauma, grief, and loss, and a way to reconnect with the beauty of nature."

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