Emily Keyishian

Emily Keyishian was raised in New Jersey and New York City to a mixed family of Turkish Armenians and Ukrainian Jews. She has been creating professionally in NJ, NYC, and CA since 1997. She taps into the psychological with her work, delving into what is familiar: the dark, uneven spaces, the brambles, the chaos of nature, the fortunate accidents, the involuntary painting around us. She embraces being flexible to what unfolds on the canvas and allowing it to inform the flow of her work. For many years, she focused on female abstract forms, delving into her own history of family dysfunction to try and tame to make sense of it. The abstract works touch on the inner turmoil of things that seem to not belong, of being overgrown or out of place, relating to her own feelings of displacement and diaspora, being forced off or out and no longer having a native land. Being in the US and never feeling quite settled on either coast, she realized this was part of her need to understand that fitting in or losing oneself in that melting pot in is not the goal, that retaining our heritage our language is what keeps us rooted as best we can in a world where people are constantly being displaced because of forces outside their control. Working within...

BA Drew University
Cont Ed School of Visual Arts

2022
Arc Gallery, SF, CA “The Wild Side” Juror Cynthia Brannvall
Summer Solo show The Sound Room, Oakland CA
Fort Mason Center General’s Residence Open Studios SF, CA
Gallery 2727 Berkeley, CA
House of Polish&Bone Berkeley, CA
2021
Fort Mason Center General’s Residence Open Studios SF, CA
Women Made Gallery, Chicago, IL "Moments Like This" Juror Jessica Bingham
Sobre Mesa restaurant and gallery, Oakland CA, curated by MUSA
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA “Convergence” Juror Susan Snyder
2017-2019
Piedmont Center for the Arts
Fort Mason Center Open Studios SF, CA
2014-2016
Hunter’s Point Shipyard Open Studios SF, CA
Art Explosion Gallery
Fort Mason Center Open Studios SF, CA
2013
Pacific Artists League, Paintings show, Juror Rachel Lazo
Art Explosion Gallery SF, CA
SOMArts Gallery, CA
2011--2012
Art Explosion Gallery SF, CA
SOMArts Gallery, CA
2010
A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 9th Biennial, Juror Andrea Schwartz
Artist Xchange Gallery, Curated by Scott Mitchell SF, CA
2009
Hunter’s Point Shipyard, CA
2008
Suite 100 Gallery, Seattle
Artist Xchange Gallery SF CA
Eclectix Gallery “Altarations" Juried by Patricia Zemanek CA
Eclectix Gallery “Mothers” Juried by Patricia Zemanek CA
2007
...