Terra Keck

Terra Keck is an image-maker and performer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work explores the ontology of our universe and consciousness through the metaphor of the UFO. Rather than filtered through the language of militarism and conspiracy, she approaches the UFO as a symbol of cosmic benevolence and mystery. What does it mean to be a species with a culture of “visitors” from “elsewhere,” and what does it mean to live in a culture disinterested in talking about it?

The work is created by erasing layers of graphite and watercolor—a reductive process that emphasizes what is left behind and the negative spaces in our cosmic story. The removal of graphite damages the paper’s fibers, creating a sparkling, effervescent texture that evokes memory, dreams, and the unexplainable space between.

Spiritually, the work responds to the broad consensus that the future is canceled. When things feel uncertain, what are earthlings to do but look up at an opaque and glittering emptiness and dream of someone who traveled a thousand lightyears just to catch a glimpse of us?

Terra received her MFA from The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and her BFA from Ball State University. You will find Keck’s work featured in publications such as Hyperallergic, The Art Newspaper, and Oxford American Arts as well as in permanent institutional collections in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Hawaii, and California. Her work was recently featured in a solo exhibition at SPRING/BREAK Art Show curated by Field Projects, and in a show at Shephard Fairey’s gallery Subliminal Projects during LA Art Week. Stand out international exhibitions of 2025 include group shows in Mexico, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

Described by the editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic as “sonograms of a world ready to be born… and brimming with the optimism of theosophical insight,” Keck’s studio practice aims to strengthen viewers' connection to the collective consciousness; assuring them that through the dark forest there is light and meaning.