Dorian Keeffe
Dorian Keeffe is a painter and mixed media artist based in Somerville, Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2018. Keeffe grew up predominantly in Massachusetts and has been pursuing art from a young age. He was inspired to study art by his late grandfather, Joseph Keeffe, an artist based in Arlington, MA.
Keeffe’s artwork explores identity, narrative, and interpersonal relationships. He invokes mythology, art history, and pop culture to express personal struggles and experiences, as well as to express his relationships with loved ones. His work often addresses his experiences as a trans man, and frequently serves as an intimate documentation of his journey.
His compositions, which combine the real and imagined, and use familiar motifs to express esoteric and obfuscated themes, create surreal vignettes that invite the viewer to investigate and unravel.
Deck of 78 tarot cards, digital reproduction of original watercolor paintings
Dorian Keeffe’s Bleeding Heart Tarot was finished with the objective of creating a cohesive visual language from a multitude of sources that have inspired and influenced me over the years. Through the use of limited color palette, and consistent style (referencing American traditional tattoo flash), the many sources of inspiration (mythology, fantasy, alternative fashion and queer culture) are able to feel at home with each other.
This deck was originally started as a Valentine's Day gift to a partner who, in the middle of the project became an ex-partner. Through continuing, reworking, and sticking with this deck, it ended up becoming a love letter to myself and all the things that I care about. It is about my love for tattoos, fantasy, mythology, telling stories and creating characters. It references alternative cultures and scenes I have found camaraderie in, and as a bisexual and transmasc person, It depicts people with bodies like mine and who express love like me.
Over the years spent on this deck, my own understanding of who I am deepened and I was able to accept myself as trans. Being able to title this deck with my true name, Dorian, has been a very special and triumphant way for me to tie off this project of perseverance, self reflection and acceptance.
I hope that these cards can help guide, inspire and enlighten you on your own journeys as it has helped to guide me.
Dorian Keeffe is a painter and mixed media artist based in Arlington, Massachusetts. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2018. Keeffe grew up in central Massachusetts and has been pursuing art from a young age. They were inspired to seek an education in painting by their late grandfather, Joseph Keeffe, who himself was an artist based in Arlington.