Trying to find an old play haunt in Jakobstal. Fighting the wind in Dungeness. Stopping at every stop sign along a single road in Ulpha. Following stray sheep through the fields in Wakaroa Pigeon Bay. Play informs practice; detours become meaningful journeys.

Responding to place and making connections are key conceptual positions and persistent exercises in the development of Keren's work. Her socially engaged practice has seen her increasingly involved in archives, collaborations and public art projects, working in conversation and sharing production to generate outcomes which reflect and respond to community priorities. After training in furniture making, Keren's recent object production draws its inspiration from the natural world - the turning of days and seasons, the changes of the moon, the textures of landscapes - and seeks to echo the rhythms and events that shape our rituals of work and rest, connection and refreshment.

Keren Oertly is a furniture maker and visual artist of Swiss, Irish, American and Aotearoa New Zealand descent. Keren began her training in the visual arts, where she received a BFA (Hons) from Central St Martins (2011) in London, UK, followed by an MFA (Sculpture) from Ilam School of  Fine  Arts  in  Ōtautahi  Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand  (2018). Through a social enterprise Rekindle which teaches heritage craft practices in community settings, Keren reconnected with wood working, and  in  2022,  she  began  training  as  a  furniture  maker  at  the  Centre  for  Fine Woodworking, in Whakatū Nelson, Aotearoa New Zealand.