PSNH SCM: Keith Demanche, NHPSA 

Artist Statement:

             Dusk and evening light is the most inspirational time of day for me. The mystery of deep shadows and dark skies moves me to capture the unknown. Moonlight and streetlights create their own worlds in the night, peering into those spaces always intrigues me. My work is always looking to find that moment of clarity in the blurry rush of modern life and celebrate the beauty of imperfection and transience. I hope to clear a swath of illumination into those sometimes dreary intersections of nature and urban sprawl.I work in pastel—a dry, rich pigment—because of the connection to the medium as I paint. Applying the strokes, lines and blocks of color from hand to pigment to paper puts me into the work like no othermedium. The figure in the landscape (in its place, so to speak) is what always moves me the most. I enjoy finding those moments of change and revealing the power of the suburbs to create a thin kind of magic— the illusion of safety and surety amidst the chaos of the world.

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Select Recent Shows:
2019    “4 The Love of Pastel” Group Show, Wild Salamander, Hollis NH
              28th International Association of Pastel Societies Exhibit, Albuquerque NM
2018    Guild of Boston Artists Annual Regional Juried Exhibition, Boston MA
              NHIA Alumni Exhibition, Rochester Museum of Fine Art, Rochester NH
2017    “The Colors of the Night,” Mills Pond Art Gallery, St. James NY
              “Peace de Resistance,” ARTHOUSE.NYC, NY
2016    “Perhaps They Never Will” Solo Show, Studio 550 Art Center, Manchester NH
               Pastel Painters of Maine National Juried Exhibition, Portland ME
2015     26th International Association of Pastel Societies Exhibit, Albuquerque NM
               “Color of Light” Two Person Show, Atkinson NH
               5th Biennial Pastels Chicago, Chicago IL

Select Awards:
2017     Third Place, Pastel Society of NH Member Show
2016     Fourth Place, Pastel Painters Maine National Juried Exhibition
               Caran d’Arche Special Award, UART Online Juried Pastel Show
2015     Pastel Society of Cape Cod Award, Pastels Chicago

Affiliations:
Signature Member, Pastel Society of NH
Master Artist, Newburyport Art Association
2017 Artist-in-Residence, Studio 550 Arts, Manchester, NH