Artist Linda Keough elevates the status of animals deer to her heart in exhibition of new work

Artist Linda Keough’s exhibition of new work at Handmark Gallery in Hobart depicts animals often considered pests in elegant domestic settings.

Linda Keough’s oil on canvas artwork, Diana And The Stag (detail).

ARTIST Linda Keough is fascinated by the natural world.

“That’s the one thing that draws me in,” Keough says. “I’m not a landscape artist. I started off painting portraits, but that didn’t interest me.

“What really motivates me is the human/natural world connection and the imbalance I see between them.

“It’s unsettling to me that the animal world is seen as inferior. That’s what inspires me to paint.”

Keough’s solo exhibition of new works, which opens tomorrow at Handmark Gallery in Hobart, contains 15 artworks, which depict animals in refined and beautiful domestic settings, lounging on chesterfield couches and standing on tables in elegant rooms.

Many of the animals are considered pests, such as hares and deer and livestock such as cows.

“I’m not really interested in domestic animals. I’m drawn to certain animals because they are seen as targets, like the deer stag, the hares. They’re [considered] a pest,” Keough says.

“I like to do my work in a humanistic surrounding and elevate their status. It’s about the contradiction between what we humans see as material wealth and status, and the animal world is seen as far less important a lot of the time.”

The captivating artwork titles — such as Inhibit, Vertiginous and In Absentia — allude to the multi-layered nature of the works and hint at the artist’s personal world.

“The titles often reflect my own inhibitions, my own discomfits I guess, and I tend to use the animals, too, as a stand-in for myself,” Keough says.

The self-taught Evandale-based artist has been a Glover Prize finalist twice, and in 2009 she won the Gold Coast Border Art Prize.

“That was a bit of a confidence boost,” she says. “My family has always been supportive of me as an artist.”

Keough’s artistic family moved from New Zealand to Sydney when she was 16 so her father could pursue his musical career, and then to Queensland. Keough settled in Tasmania eight years ago and works full-time as an artist in historic converted stables.

“Dad was a jazz musician, he was a brilliant trumpeter who represented Australia overseas, and Mum was a stage actress. My Dad [who died six years ago] was my absolute idol,” she says.

Keough says she has always loved art.

“I began pursuing an active career in art when I was about 35,’’ she says. “Since primary school I’ve been drawing and have always been interested in art. When I was in Sydney I made dance costumes, so my artistic expression has always come out in one form or another.”

Linda Keough’s exhibition of new work is at Handmark Gallery, Hobart, from October 18-November 11.