Just as it seems likely Margaret Keane found inspiration to paint the waifs through it, Oahspe can also be seen as a catalyst for the development of the alien abduction myth. This is due to its unique blend of spiritualism and science fiction, which intertwines angels and aliens in its ontology. In the 1960’s composer […]
Part 11 – Angels are Aliens Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret KeaneThat the figures in Keane’s artwork look like aliens is not a novel connection. It’s often the one of the first remarks made about Keane’s portraits by a contemporary audience. Just look at any of Margaret’s paintings posted on social media and it’s likely that the first comment about them will be from someone making
Part 12 – KEANE “Aliens” Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret KeaneThe connection to the alien hybrid narrative isn’t restricted to the infant waifs. After her marriage to Walter Keane ended and the waifs became less a part of their business, Margaret painted fictional young women, and they were unusual looking. As we’ll see these paintings could be portraits of hybrid entities captured at some point
Part 13 – Very Ethereal, Very Esthetic-Looking Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret KeaneA believer in the objective reality of alien abduction might read all this and like to apply the principle of Occam’s Razor. They might surmise that the simplest explanation for why Margaret’s work resembles the visual descriptions given by hundreds of abductees is not the objectionable notion that they were somehow half-remembering her art or
Part 14 – Was Margaret an Abductee? Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret KeaneWas Margaret aware of stories about alien abduction or of children seen inside UFOs, or had she herself had a similar vision? The answer may lay in a consideration of the playfulness evident in Margaret’s paintings and how she acknowledges other motifs in art history. We see this in the tilted head position from Botticelli’s
Part 15 – Keane’s Playful Allusions to Other Artists Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret KeaneIn reviewing the literature on alien abduction I was struck by how many times patterns are mentioned as a way of approaching the subject. If you can’t find anything else, look for patterns “Even from the very earliest days people recognised there were a lot of similarities in these stories, what I wanted to find
Part 16 – Patterns Read More »
The Abduction of Margaret Keane