Contemporary abstract artist Gina Keatley has announced a new five-painting acrylic-on-canvas series titled Motto Motto, developed between New York City and Akō, Japan. The series arrives as Keatley completes the ownership transition of Bushwick Gallery and expands Salt Road Studio, an artist-led platform in Akō focused on contemporary art, publishing, international exchange and future residency programming. The convergence of these developments signals a deliberate geographic and institutional shift in Keatley's career, positioning her work within a broader international framework.
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: a commitment to continue beyond the moment when a painting first appears resolved. The five works—More Depth, More Motion, More Expanse, More Resonance and More Cadence—each measure 48 by 36 inches. Across blush, cream, sand, smoke and pale earth tones, Keatley layers acrylic, scrapes, veils, interrupts and rebuilds the surface. Faint flashes of mandarin orange, introduced through her raindrop technique, bring energy to the quieter palette while darker marks and fragments remain visible beneath.
"Motto Motto is about pushing past the first point where a painting feels finished," Keatley says. "It is about taking more from the process. More time, more movement, more pressure, more room to see what the work can become." This philosophy of accumulation and revision is central to the series, which treats movement between New York and Akō as a working condition rather than a subject to be illustrated. Distance, atmosphere and cultural experience enter the paintings through process instead of literal imagery. Accumulation, revision and return become the shared structure connecting the five canvases.
That geographic shift is also institutional. After founding and directing Bushwick Gallery in Brooklyn, Keatley is completing the gallery's ownership transition while turning greater attention toward Salt Road Studio. The Akō-based 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.
The implications of this announcement extend beyond a single series. Motto Motto marks a continued refinement of Keatley's abstract practice and a transition toward a broader international framework for her work. By anchoring her practice in two distinct cultural contexts, Keatley is not only expanding her artistic vocabulary but also creating institutional infrastructure for cross-cultural exchange. The ownership transition of Bushwick Gallery suggests a deliberate reallocation of energy toward Salt Road Studio, which may become a significant node for artist-led initiatives between the United States and Japan. Viewers can explore the series and press images at https://untamedmoderns.com/gina-keatley-motto-motto-series/.
Untamed Moderns, an independent contemporary art platform presenting the work and projects of Gina Keatley, publishes new bodies of work and artist-led initiatives, including Salt Road Studio. Based in New York with a growing connection to Akō, Japan, the platform serves as a digital home for Keatley's evolving practice. More information is available at https://untamedmoderns.com. As Keatley continues to work between New York City and Akō, her practice explores place, movement, memory, material tension and what she describes as power through fragility. The Motto Motto series stands as both a culmination of her layered, gestural approach and a foundation for future international engagements.
