New York based painter Keelin Montzingo occupies the space between domestic privacy and the vast expanse of the internet. Drawn to the moment where secrecy and exhibitionism merge, Montingzo’s paintings explore the authorship of the gaze and how this has changed within the context of social media. Using the female form of figures which are taken directly from instagram accounts of influencers, models and brands observing how the semiotics of the female pose exist in an echo chamber where the real mirrors the constructed and the constructed seeks the real - in perpetuity.

Montzingo observes how in a world of sousveillance where one has control over their own image, the power used to take ownership of identity also feeds into long established stereotypes. The disparity between what is seen on social media and in physical existence, creates a warped sense of reality, where this drive to be seen as individual and stand out merges into a sea of bodies. These paintings do not criticize the use of self promotion but question whether the female is collectively perpetuating the male gaze or rather reclaiming the body, an empowerment where they have freed themselves from historical social narratives.

Montzingo’s abstract backgrounds use a palette evocative of 1960 & 70s design, nostalgic for an era which promised freedom and sensuality. Montzingo builds washes of dreamy soft pastels punctuated by violent swathes of bold color to form a pulsing landscape which embraces and somewhat threatens the figures that exist within. Bodies are presented layered on top of each other, intertwined, dissecting, disrupting, presenting an archetype in flux. The variation of these personas we are presented with online blend into a sea of one, which Montzingo has depicted through the replication of the same physique throughout her paintings, The vibrant color echoes in the backgrounds of the works, inspired by Abstract Expressionist brushstrokes while evoking the feeling created by the screen and overexposure to its flickering light.

Montzingo’s intuitive connection to her own body exists within her work, her figures maintain a language of precision yet refuse to be more than symbols, the same woman repeated over again to fit into the impossible ideal female, that is repeatedly mis-represented by media in our generation.

Montzingo studied Communications at the University of Massachusetts and Modern and Contemporary Art at Christies. In 2017 she returned to painting propelled by her insight in art history and commercial markets which gave a contradictory and fascinating perspective of her subject matter. Recent exhibitions include ‘Creatures’ at Olsen Gruin, 2019,‘Shifting Skins’ at Leonard Tourne, 2018, ‘Cosmic Latte Nostalgia’ at Gruin Gallery in 2021, and ‘Femme F(r)iction’ at C1760 2023