Art | Artist Zoe Keller uses graphite and digital media to create large-scale, meticulously rendered visual narratives. Placing a special focus on at-risk species and wildlands, Keller weaves drawings that explore the interconnectedness of fragile, vanishing ecosystems. By highlighting the biodiversity at risk in an era of human-driven mass extinction her work aims to inspire reverence for the natural world and action to defend what we have left. Keller's studio work draws upon months of research, collaborations with the scientific community, and on-the-ground experiences in wild places through artist residencies and self-directed expeditions.

Bio | A Woodstock, New York native, Zoe Keller's creative upbringing in the rural Catskills shaped her future as an artist and amateur naturalist. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Keller made homes and studios in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, on the rocky Maine coast, in West Michigan's farm country and Eastern Oregon's Wallowa Mountains before finally returning to her hometown. Artist residencies have taken Keller up and down the West Coast from Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve to California's Channel Islands archipelago.

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION 

2011
BFA Graphic Design, Maryland Institute College of Art

COLLECTIONS

Permanent Collection, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, Wyoming
Permanent Collection, Zion National Park

AWARDS

2024
Illustration for ‘Garden & Gun’ recognized as a Merit Winner, Society of Publication Designers 59th Annual Awards

2018
Project Grant, Portland Regional Arts & Culture Council
Professional Development Grant, Portland Regional Arts & Culture Council

2017
Golden Spot Award, Caldera

2015
Doug Byers Memorial Scholarship, Signal Fire Arts

2007-2011
Mathias J. Devito Scholarship, MICA

CLIENTS

The New York Times
The Nature Conservancy
Penguin Random House UK
Timber Press
New Leaf Literary & Media

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

2018
Zion National Park Artist Residency, UT

2017
Wrangell Mountains Center, AK
Signal Fire, Wide Open Studios, OR & CA
Caldera, OR

2016
PLAYA, OR

2015
Signal Fire, OR

2014
Hurricane Island, ME

PRINT PRESS

Chronogram, November 2024
North American Review, Spring 2022, 307.1
Artist Snapshot, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Issue 020

PODCAST

Nature Nuggets, Episode 28
Art Affairs Podcast, Episode 9  

VIDEO

Arbor Collective Artist Profile
2019 Artist Talk at Antler Gallery
2018 Kickstarter

ONLINE FEATURES

Chronogram, Zoe Keller Draws Hudson Valley At-Risk Wildlife in Stunning Detail
This is Colossal, Sinuous Snakes…
This is Colossal,  Graphite Illustrations…
Hi-Fructose,  Zoe Keller’s Graphite…
Highlark,  Discover: Zoe Keller
Booooooom!  Illustrator Spotlight: Zoe Keller
Jung Katz,  Interview with Illustrator…
Light Grey Art Lab,  Artist Interview…

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024
Western Visions 2024, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY

2023
Western Visions 2023, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Existential, collaboratively curated by Antler Gallery, Talon Gallery, and Thinkspace Projects, Portland, OR
Infinite Horizons, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Harvest, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2022
Untamed Splendor, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Fractured Aviary, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
100 Trees, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Enormous Tiny Art #32, Nahcotta Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
Western Visions 2022, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY

(2021, took a break from group exhibitions to move to the East Coast.)

2020
Western Visions 2020, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Enormous Tiny Art: Fall Show #28, Nahcotta Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
BRINK 2020, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR

2019
SCOPE Miami Beach 2019 with Antler Gallery, Miami, FL
Western Visions 2019, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Flora and Fauna, Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, Mesa, AZ
comeUndone, Beinart Gallery, Brunswick, Australia
BRINK 2019, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Pareidolia, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR

2018
SCOPE Miami Beach 2018 with Antler Gallery, Miami, FL
Western Visions 2018, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
The Cat Show, Beinart Gallery Brunswick, Australia
Ephemeral, Curation: Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
BRINK 2018, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Enormous Tiny Art: Fall Show #24, Nahcotta Gallery, Portsmouth, NH

2017
Western Visions 2017, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Billow & Bloom, Talon Gallery, Portland, OR
Dark Nature, Last Rites Gallery, New York, NY
Tondo, Spoke Art, San Francisco, CA
Enormous Tiny Art: Spring Show #21 | Nahcotta Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
Pressure, Gristle Art Gallery, New York, NY 
Future Wild, Paragon Arts Center Gallery with Signal Fire, Portland, OR
BRINK 2017, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR

2016
Achroma, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Growth//Decay, joint show with Paradigm Gallery, Philadelphia, PA &
Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Beasts of Burden, Sally Centigrade Gallery, Denver, CO
Mythos, Helikon Gallery and Studios, Denver, CO
BRINK, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Silent Aviary, THE VACVVM Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Keller has taken a step back from gallery exhibitions to focus on her professional illustration practice.

2020
Scale and Bone, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR

2019
Zion, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR

2018
Forest, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
Spotlight Exhibition, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR  

2017
Studies & Stories, Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis, MN

2016
Forty-four, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR