Gallery West to close doors, ‘reSISTERS’ exhibit opens at Macon Arts Alliance

She Keene’s solo gallery exhibit, “reSISTERS,” opens First Friday at the Macon Arts Alliance gallery, 486 First St., with a reception from 4-7 p.m.

A Macon native, Keene has devoted herself to mixed-media art for several years now, following her retirement from a career as a Georgia Tech–trained engineer working for Department of Defense contractors in software and robotics development, as well as launching her own entrepreneurial projects.

While Keene told me her engineer’s mindset and education only slightly influences her artistic approach, her career in a male-dominated field has made all the difference in the themes of her artwork — whether in paintings, posters or everyday items like stickers and mugs. Her art business, Redefining She, creates empowering work to inspire women and girls, give them visibility and representation, and educate the public about women of the past and present who make a difference in the world.

“reSISTERS” largely focuses on heroes — known and unknown — of the women’s right-to-vote movement. Whether a piece carries a clear message, as many do, or is more subtly created, Keene includes a QR code linking viewers to online stories and biographies. In all her work, she also includes a somewhat hidden date representing a significant, inspiring, woman-centric occurrence or story.

Plainly put in her artist’s statement for “reSISTERS,” Keene writes: “My work centers on the ongoing struggle for equality and justice, viewed through the lens of women and marginalized communities whose resistance spans generations. In my series reSISTERS, I create abstract and figurative mixed-media pieces that collage historic photographs of early suffragists, layered with both bold and fading text — words that reflect the rights and freedoms people are still fighting to claim today.

“These works point to an unsettling truth: many of the battles women and minorities waged a century ago remain unresolved. By folding the past into the present, my work exposes the cyclical nature of resistance while affirming the unbreakable spirit of those who continue to rise, speak out and demand change.”

Keene said she wants viewers to “feel the weight of history — HERstory — alongside the urgency of this moment; to see themselves reflected in the lineage of protest and to carry forward the courage, solidarity and hope that resistance, in all its forms, makes possible.”

She is partly inspired by her own experience of being the only woman in the room as an engineer — paid less and having to “work twice as hard to get half the credit” — and partly by stories of women’s struggles for equal rights, from voting to establishing their own economic identity.

“My art is about changing stereotypes that put women in cages,” Keene said. “Growing up in the South, there were strong definitions of who and what women should be, and a lot of them are still there. Women’s stories aren’t told often enough. I want to spread HERstory. I want to show how, right here in the U.S., women have had to fight long and hard for basic rights, even suffering hardship, being beaten, starved and imprisoned. There’s an obligation now to show and honor what women have done and to fight, ourselves, to protect what they’ve accomplished and to advance it.”

Keene noted there’s very little taught in schools about women’s history and much of what exists on government websites is being removed.

“I’m happy with the work I create,” Keene said. “If women and girls can look at this body of work and see themselves as a collective group, a part of the story, a part of something bigger, that will be a win. Together we can do really big things.”

Keene attributes her controlled artistic approach, which she said is not “the greatest skill to have as an artist,” to her background in engineering. 

“I’m the kind of artist who has to have some sort of visual point of reference,” she said. “I can have an idea in my head, but before I can make it into a piece of art, I absolutely have to sketch it out, lay out where I want things on the canvas.”

Not being a classically trained artist has influenced Keene’s style choices and how she works.

“I chose mixed media over everything else because I could bring so much into it — so many media, collage and ways of working—and, at the end of the day, I didn’t have to go back to school to learn that classical skill set,” she said. “Sometimes I have felt a little like an imposter because of it, but mixed media offers a grand opportunity to make something without rules. I don’t have to be too hypercritical of myself for breaking rules.”

Keene’s work and a wealth of historical information on women and women’s issues can be found on her website, redefiningshe.com and her social media.

Gallery West set to close May 31

“I’ve been talking about this for a couple of years,” said Kirsten West, owner-operator of the gallery, which primarily features the work of her husband, Kirk West, famed photographer of musicians such as Johnny Cash, Keith Richards, old Chicago blues artists and the Allman Brothers Band, for whom he served as tour manager for more than a decade.

From the start, the gallery has been a highlight for Allman Brothers and Capricorn Studios fans visiting Macon, the mecca of Southern rock. In fact, the Wests were among the first to promote Macon as a music-tourist destination by bringing the Allman Brothers’ Big House back to life and starting the gallery downtown 11 years ago, when, if you’ll remember, there was a whole lot of nothing downtown.

That makes the Wests not only key in promoting the arts and tourism but also among the very first to dare to envision the revitalization of downtown.

In recent years, the Wests have expanded those shown at the gallery to include local artists, as well as bringing in impressive national touring exhibits for Middle Georgia audiences.

The gallery isn’t closing due to business falling of f— it’s as active as ever — but because the Wests are ready to “retire” from it. It’s Kirsten West’s third or fourth “retirement” after a successful career as a businesswoman, her work in the early days of the Big House, the Capitol Theatre and other projects, including the gallery.

“We’ve reached out to try to get someone to take it over, but so far that just hasn’t happened,” she said. “I’d still love for it to, but it’s just time for us to go ahead and close it if no one comes forward.”

West said it would take a surprisingly small amount for someone to take over the gallery’s lease and continue operations. Downtown leaders agree it will be a shame to see the gallery come to an end.

So be sure to drop in sometime — or make it to the remaining First Friday shows — before doors close. And didn’t someone sing something about not knowing what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?

Gallery West is at 447 Third St. Contact them at kirsten@gallerywestmacon.com and facebook.com/gallerywestmacon.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.