Gina Keatley Unveils "Motto Motto" Series in New York and Japan
News related to:Gina Keatley · 2 min read
NEW YORK, NY, October 01, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Contemporary abstract artist Gina Keatley has unveiled a new series of paintings titled "Motto Motto," which marks a significant step in her artistic journey and her expanding international presence. The series, developed between New York City and Akō, Japan, comprises five acrylic-on-canvas works that explore the artist's ongoing exploration of place, movement, memory, and material tension.
The series takes its name from the Japanese word "motto," meaning "more." Repeated as "motto motto," the phrase becomes both an instruction and a rhythm, symbolizing Keatley's commitment to pushing beyond the initial resolution of a painting. The five works, titled "More Depth," "More Motion," "More Expanse," "More Resonance," and "More Cadence", each measure 48 by 36 inches. Across a palette of blush, cream, sand, smoke, and pale earth tones, Keatley layers acrylic, scrapes, veils, and interrupts the surface, introducing faint flashes of mandarin orange through her raindrop technique.
The series treats the geographic shift between New York and Akō as a working condition, with distance, atmosphere, and cultural experience entering the paintings through process rather than literal imagery. Accumulation, revision, and return become the shared structure connecting the five canvases.
The release of "Motto Motto" comes as Keatley completes the ownership transition of Bushwick Gallery and turns greater attention toward Salt Road Studio, an artist-led platform in Akō focused on contemporary art, publishing, international exchange, and future residency programming. This initiative connects her New York practice with the Seto Inland Sea region and is being developed to support contemporary art, artist-led publishing, international exchange, and future residency programming.
The result is a body of work that feels weathered and newly made at once, soft in palette yet insistent in presence. Each painting carries its own cadence while remaining part of a shared visual language built through touch, interruption, and persistence. "Motto Motto" marks a continued refinement of Keatley's abstract practice and a transition toward a broader international framework for her work.
The series can be viewed at Untamed Moderns.