Forest proudly lives and works on Dja Dja Wurrung Country and listens deeply to the stories of the Traditional Owners who continue to share their rich cultural heritage with a generosity which astounds her.

As a settler she can trace back roots to her Sri Lankan Father and white settlers in the 1860’s. A practising artist since 1992 and graduate of Honours in Sculpture Performance and Installation from Sydney College of the Arts, her work has a strong environmental research focus and sharing her findings by highlighting conditions endangered species need to thrive is paramount to her practice.

With more than a decade creating artworks that evoke a sense of the landscape of Victoria prior to colonisation and the gold rush, Forest often uses Indigenous plants and waste paper to create ephemeral sculpture in public space. Creating a visual interpretation of scientific, historic and environmental research and illuminating those themes through engaging in conversation is crucial to her practice.

In 2014 she was awarded the Lorne Biennale Sculpturescape Prize. She has twenty years experience as a visual artist in Community Cultural Development and is passionate about creating participatory artworks that engage people of all ages and backgrounds to generate work that expresses their voice and identity.

For 11 years Keegel was a Community Cultural Development Artist at the Artful Dodgers Studios, Jesuit Social Services working collaboratively with young people 15-28. She was a member of the Art Central team of artists in the Central Goldfields Shire, generating projects and creating art with school students and the community for public exhibition.

Forest's recently collaborated with Amanda King for Orchestra of Extinction, an exhibition At EDGE Galleries October 2 – 22, 2022.

Images by Forest Keegel, Amanda King and Penny Ryan.