​Rosh Keegan

Born 1962

Salisbury, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)

 

Studied Ceramics 2002 - Present.

Kingsway College and Working Men’s College, London NW1

 

Rosh Keegan is a London and recently Norfolk based sculptor who hand builds ceramic sculptures using stoneware and paper clay, fired and finished with oxides, glazes, metallic paints, acrylics and gold leaf. Some pieces are embellished with hats, tiaras, tutus, feathers, jewellery and collars to complement their narrative. Each piece is unique.

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Her work takes on a hybrid form, animal heads and buxom Picasso-esque human figures. Recent work includes animal busts; sheep, chimpanzees, hares and dog heads with human neck and shoulders, often larger than life size with dramatic glass eyes. The resulting characters are flamboyant and theatrical and captivate the viewer with their emotive expressions and sinister undercurrent. Rosh refers to their familiarity as the “human-eyes-ation” of animals.

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Her sculptures imbue a primitive quality, recalling times of archetypal idols, and her use of unusual applications like the rust finish, impart a style that is both unique and contemporary.

Rosh’s cultural context references her Hindu heritage and wild southern African upbringing where she spent her formative years. With an increasingly absent father she found herself drawn to the world of animals that surrounded her, a menagerie of pets, taxidermy and toys that enabled her to create her very own family of characters with their own identities, a distinct source of inspiration for her sculptural creations.

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The family dogs especially became her life and she is now a KC registered breeder of the Bolognese dog and champions all issues in support of animal welfare, much of it highlighted within the narrative of her sculptures.