Art Access Show

 

Bexley, Ohio

 

Art Access Gallery

 

 

 

“Materials Matter”
New Works through September 10, 2022

This was a group show that I participated in at the Art Access Gallery in Bexley, Ohio.

A shout-out to Ann, Judy, Paula and Ricki ~ I was honored to hang on the same walls!

  http://www.artaccessgallery.com/

Gallery Hours Wednesday – Saturday

 

September 5, 2022

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
~ Mary Oliver

My paintings showing in “Materials Matter” are new encaustic paintings utilizing collage and burnt surfaces as details throughout.

The process of melting the encaustic surface typically involves torching the surface in a controlled manner to create and image that moves gently and untamed. But I wanted to drive the energy of the torch into something more committed, so I reversed the additive process and literally burned the surface. These shapes are dark, reductive masses that possess strong, solemn moments.
The silent and singular shapes are the focal points of these pieces – a suggestion of the memories of those separated and left standing alone after natural disasters, war, grief and disease.

Using old phone books and maps, I assembled patterns and messages within the paintings. The white pages provided a lineal pattern of the surname “Wood” to build the textures of a forest, messages of real estate properties for sale create a horizon line of a scorned landscape, and torn maps and homemade papers suggest land masses and broken communities that have been overcome by divisiveness and natures furies.

From destruction emerged something new.

A big “thank you” to all those who attended the show!

 

Art Access Gallery

Art Access Gallery

 

Art Access Gallery

Art Access Gallery

 

Art Access Gallery

Art Access Gallery

 

Art Access Gallery

Art Access Gallery

 

Art Access Gallery

Art Access Gallery

 

“Passage Between Cliffs” – Process Photo

 

“Passage Between Cliffs”
36″ x 48″
Encaustic

 

“Last Standing-Silvanus Saved the Woods”
48″ x 60″
Encaustic

 

“Remembering”
36″ x 48″
Encaustic

 

“Remembering” – Detail

 

“Red Phone Book Woods”
24″ x 24″
Encaustic

 

 

 

 

 

Biophilia; Standing Witness – Love of Nature

“A human being is part of the whole called by us ‘the universe,’ a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection of a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of understanding and compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

~ Albert Einstein, via Solitude

 

abstract oil painting trees karen rumora

Sanguine Shadows, Oil on Panel, 18×24, Artist: Karen Rumora copyright 2017

abstract oil painting trees karen rumora

Morning, Oil on Canvas, 24×32, Artist: Karen Rumora copyright 2017

 

Biophilia; Standing Witness

 

Studio San Guiseppe Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio
Mount St Joseph University
5701 Delhi Road
September 17 – October 20, 2017
Gallery Hours Monday – Friday 10 – 5, Saturday & Sunday 1 – 5

My new tree paintings are currently on exhibit at the Studio San Guiseppe Art Gallery in Cincinnati. It is an absolute privilege to be in the company of these twelve talented women artists, where we share our unique artistic responses to the natural world.  The particular oil paintings I created are extensions of my experiences as a plein-aire painter. I collected and called on my memories of outdoor environments for this more introspective process. Because of this, the final results have manifested into these abstract, fictional vistas.

Cell-shaped entities grew from a more personal and meditative approach. As these morphing forms bordered on the surreal, I imagined the recent treescapes as a prelude to a dream; a space teetering between reality and wonder. The surface became a tapestry of color resembling biological organisms, with more aspects of the interior structure ofplant life, rather than it’s external features. So this essentially turned my concept of a landscape painting “inside-out”.

abstract oil painting trees karen rumora

The Enchanted Indifference, Oil on Canvas, 32×60, Artist: Karen

The very action of generating this work transposes my own meditations into visions on the canvas, and further merges the concept of individual and shared energy. As a result, the images represent the generation and integration of life forms as well as an aura of coexistence and harmony of living elements.

abstract oil painting tree karen rumora

Entwined Tango, Oil on Canvas, 36×36, Artist: Karen Rumora copyright 2017

My thanks to all of those who shared the day!

Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery Mt St Josephs

Biophilia, Standing Witness, 2017 Artist: Karen Rumora

 

Studio San Giuseppe Art Gallery Mt St Josephs

Biophilia, Standing Witness, 2017 Artist: Karen Rumora with Susan Mahan

 

 

 

And if you love trees, here are some links to some amazing TED talks: