Origin: New York, NY, USA
Currently Exhibiting in: New York City
Website: Untamed Moderns
Social Media: Instagram: Untamed Moderns
Bio:
Gina Keatley’s abstract expressionist work delves into the dynamic balance between simplicity and complexity, evoking emotion through layered contrasts and bold compositions. Keatley’s work is defined by its exploration of imperfections—how cracks and disruptions in an otherwise minimalist surface reveal the deeper emotional undercurrents beneath. Her acclaimed Untamed Moderns collection, along with her celebrated Linen Series, are meditations on the delicate balance between control and chaos, where serene compositions are interrupted by moments of unpredictability.
In Keatley’s visual language, muted whites and grays act as metaphors for quiet reflection, but they are never static. Her sudden bursts of mandarin orange—a hallmark of her work—emerge like emotions that cannot be contained, reminding us that even in the most restrained settings, life finds a way to disrupt and surprise. Whimsy and tension coexist in her paintings, creating works that feel as fragile as they are profound, like love itself.
Featured Artwork at Bushwick Gallery
Soft Awakening (Two-Panel Diptych)
- Year of Creation: 2025
- Medium: Acrylic on canvas
- Dimensions: 36 x 48 inches each (72 x 48 inches combined)
- Price: $8,600 USD
Description:
Soft Awakening is a study in contrasts, where simplicity and imperfection coexist on equal footing. The two-panel diptych, framed in thin black borders, invites viewers into a world of muted whites, soft grays, and restrained textures that feel quiet but never still. Keatley’s surfaces are layered with fine crackling, gentle fissures, and speckled drips—marks that mimic the unpredictable flow of emotions. The imperfections are deliberate, meant to evoke the delicate, fleeting nature of human connections and the inevitability of change.
The work’s small bursts of mandarin orange punctuate the restrained background like fragments of a memory breaking through, signifying renewal, hope, or perhaps a moment of clarity. The panels feel as though they are breathing—inhale, exhale—while holding tension beneath their surfaces. The Rainfall Drip Technique, one of Keatley’s signature methods, creates a sense of quiet disruption, as if something once serene has been stirred by the unpredictable force of life.
This is not a piece about calm. Instead, it is a reflection on love’s fragility—how something soft and simple can be both vulnerable to and strengthened by disruption. Keatley’s diptych invites viewers to linger, to notice the way imperfections can be a source of beauty, and to understand that control, even when applied, can only shape chaos for so long.
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Title: Love and Heartbreak: A Duality
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 13 / 6PM-8PM
Exhibition Dates: February 13 – February 20
Theme: Love and Heartbreak: A Duality explores the inherent contradictions within relationships. Keatley’s Soft Awakening embodies this theme through its layered surfaces and moments of rupture. It speaks to the fragility of love, the beauty of imperfections, and the transformative power of both. Just as love cannot exist without vulnerability, Keatley’s diptych demonstrates how disruptions within a seemingly simple structure can reveal the most profound truths.
Guided audio experience
For accessibility, the full video transcript is provided below for those who prefer to read or are unable to listen.
“What does it mean to wake up—to truly awaken? In Gina Keatley’s diptych, Soft Awakening, a space of quiet tension emerges, where stillness and movement coexist. The two panels, nearly mirror images, hum with restrained energy, their surfaces layered with fine fissures and subtle drips. At first glance, they appear serene—an expanse of muted whites and delicate grays, like the first light of morning filtering through a fogged window. But look closer, and disruptions appear, the subtle fractures where emotion rises to the surface.”
“Keatley’s work is reckless in its precision, fearless in its restraint. She paints with intent and instinct, pairing them as seamlessly as light and shadow. Years of global movement—from Japan to Africa—have shaped her eye, teaching her that beauty is never static. To stop is sometimes as hard as to start, and a pause can hold as much weight as a stroke of color.”
“Beauty emerges in imperfection, in the places where control slips just enough to let the unexpected in. The fine crackling on the surface—deliberate and intentional—mimics the unpredictable nature of human connection. Love, like paint, is layered. It settles, it shifts, it cracks. And just when it seems understood, a burst of color interrupts—a moment of clarity, a flicker of memory. In Soft Awakening, it arrives in restrained whispers of mandarin orange, breaking through like an emotion too powerful to be suppressed.”
“This is not just a painting. It is a meditation on love’s fragility—on the way the simplest moments, the softest gestures, become the most transformative. The panels breathe in and out, like lovers in a delicate dance, neither fully whole without the other. And yet, within their separateness, they remain complete.”
“What small moments have left their mark? What quiet disruptions have shaped, fractured, and made you more whole?”