Long inspired by the distinct way we inhabit our bodies and spaces, Meghan Keane began her career studying fashion design, followed by architecture at Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan. In 2003 the color-saturated landscapes she encountered in Ecuador while studying abroad prompted her to take the leap to become a painter.  She has pursued the playful, colorful, beautiful, and unexpected ever since. 

In 2013, Keane spearheaded and co-funded a transformative project in the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia in collaboration with anthropologist friend Sebastian Ramirez from Princeton University.

She painted refugees living in a shelter, displaced by ongoing violence from Colombia's guerilla civil war. She made twelve paintings in one intense week. Two days later, her work was installed as a solo show at L.I.A. LAB, a Bogotá art space. Her sitters, now friends, rode buses into town to attend the opening reception and witness themselves, in paint, in a gallery space the size of a small airplane hangar. The goal was to include people in paintings who might not ever get the chance to be part of this tradition, let alone have access to cultural activities.

The result? Everyone involved in the project saw first-hand the potential for painting to impact lives. 

From this, the mission of changing lives through art emerged and within six months return from Colombia, PAS DE DEUX PROJECT was born. 

Named after the famed classical ballet duet, Pas de Deux Project is an extension of Keane's current studio practice of painting people. This series is uniquely couples and other duets in paint.

Pas de deux literally means "step of two" in French. It is the name of the duet (for two dancers) in many classical ballets. Keane is interested less in portraiture, which traditionally depends upon facial features and likeness, and more in the specific and unique physicality of the couples she paints. Her fascination comes from our ability to recognize our loved ones from blocks away, strolling down the street... there's something profound in how uniquely and specifically each person lives in her/his body. Thus, in these paintings, intimacy is expressed through the language of the body, making the oeuvre deeply in synch with dance and the grand pas de deux (duet) pieces in ballet.