{"id":1177,"date":"2025-08-19T14:45:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2025-08-21T09:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T09:12:15","slug":"steve-keister-conjures-mythological-creatures-from-clay-wood-and-cardboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/19\/steve-keister-conjures-mythological-creatures-from-clay-wood-and-cardboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Keister Conjures Mythological Creatures from Clay, Wood, and Cardboard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Steve<\/p>\n

From glazed ceramic, coated cardboard, wood, and acrylic paint, Steve Keister<\/a> summons mythical beings and enigmatic animal-human hybrids. The artist\u2019s current exhibition, Split Level<\/em> at Derek Eller Gallery<\/a>, is a survey of work made during the past eight years, glimpsing the artist\u2019s ongoing exploration of Pre-Columbian art and architecture.<\/p>\n

Keister\u2019s mixed-media sculptures initially emerged from experiments with salvaged styrofoam and cardboard packing cartons, which evoked the bold, blocky forms of Mesoamerican architecture like Aztec stone carvings and Mayan step pyramids.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cLeaf-Nose Bat\u201d (2025), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, 23 x 33 x 6.5 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through ongoing series like Bio Meso, Batz, <\/em>and Masked Figures, <\/em>Keister merges painting, sculpture, and craft techniques into three-dimensional portrayals of what the gallery describes as \u201cbespoke deities that pay homage to Pre-Columbian myth.\u201d Some creatures, like \u201cXoloitzcuintle,\u201d represent real animals\u2014in this case, a species of hairless dog.<\/p>\n

Hybrid creatures like \u201cStanding Bat II\u201d and \u201cCoyote Man\u201d tap into oral histories and belief systems that span North America. Bats are historically emblematic of the boundary between life and death. And Coyote<\/a>, a potent character in the folklore of numerous Indigenous North American peoples, is variously a magician, creator, glutton, and trickster.<\/p>\n

Keister\u2019s compositions range from wall reliefs to freestanding, monument-like sculptures to sprawling floor pieces. \u201cAt the core of his ethos is a profound interest in human and animal consciousness,\u201d the gallery says. \u201cKeister extrapolates his subjects from Central American mythology to develop a complex ecosystem of mystical fauna.\u201d<\/p>\n

Split Level <\/em>continues through August 22 in New York City. Explore more on the artist\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cCoyote Man\u201d (2025), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, cement, 66 x 16.5 x 17.5 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cXoloitzcuintle\u201d (2025), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood with found object, 25 x 20 x 33 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cRed Tabby\u201d (2024), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, 11 x 14 x 3.5 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cCosmic Crocodile\u201d (2017), coated cardboard, glazed ceramic, cement and acrylic on wood, 5 x 32 x 55 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cContrapposto\u201d (2024), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, 30 x 24 x 4 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cStanding Bat II\u201d (2022), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, cement, 65 x 48 x 12 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"an
\u201cMictlantecuhtli\u201d (2017), coated cardboard and acrylic on masonite on wood, 37.25 x 41 x 6.25 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cLateral Bat\u201d (2024), glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, 40.25 x 24 x 4.25 inches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Steve Keister Conjures Mythological Creatures from Clay, Wood, and Cardboard<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From glazed ceramic, coated cardboard, wood, and acrylic paint, Steve Keister summons mythical beings and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1227,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/1227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.beatlesfansunite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}