Keren Toledano is a self-taught painter based in New York City who brings a unique fusion of literature and art to her practice. She earned her BA in English from Harvard and her MA in Arts & Education from NYU, then began her career in the literary world as a literary agent, editor, journalist, and writing teacher. When writer’s block redirected her creative path, Keren turned to painting as a new means of expression, debuting her first solo show in 2017. In that show, she combined abstract collages with fragments from her own torn-up stories, underscoring her philosophy of impermanence in art.

Her work has since gained recognition, appearing in Vogue and The New York Times, and at major design fairs. She collaborates with designers, retailers, and art publishers and now divides her time between painting and writing, exploring the connections across these disciplines.

In her artist statement, Keren speaks to the "tension" that drives her work: contrasts of transparency and opacity, smooth and textured surfaces, which together build her visual narrative. Each painting is a "palimpsest," a layered document of evolving forms and hidden marks. With a writer’s precision, she likens elements of her paintings to language—stains as adjectives, hard edges as nouns—inviting viewers to delve into their own perspectives. Her work examines how context shapes perception, much like the layers on her canvas shape each painting’s story, asking us to reflect on our own interpretations and the marks left on our lives.