As an artist who primarily produces each piece of work as part of a larger series, I feel that my best work grows out of previous struggles. I strive to find a synergy within each series that unifies it as a cohesive body of work. I often find that solutions reveal themselves to me as I push myself to continue through the work. There are times when I might be working on many paintings at once, finishing none, but gradually working toward solutions for all of them—collectively, as well as individually.

My work comes from a very intrinsic place. Sometimes ideas reveal themselves bit by bit; other times, they come in tremendous inspired waves. “InterTwining” evolved slowly—first, as an exploration of ideas that I was “curious” to try, and then as paintings I couldn’t wait to start working on. In the end, it became a series of work I felt addicted to painting.

Each painting changed a lot throughout my process, but each maintained the same feeling represented in its beginning stages. I began with one or two colors and a few strategically placed intersecting lines. Drawing as many as twelve compositions for each painting, I strove to find the correct lines within each piece. My own movements, as I paint, affect the movement I want to achieve within the painting. The lines evolved into shapes, the one or two colors grew into tones and shades of colors, and then decisions about foreground and background were addressed.

“InterTwining” references ideas of simplicity and complexity. At first glance, the paintings are simple and easy to enter, but further examination reveals intentional “inconsistencies.” Though they may deceive you at first, these spatially complex shapes cannot actually interact as portrayed in real space. The paintings bend the rules, layering shapes on top of or through other shapes in a way that, though not physically possible, is, in the reality of the painting, totally believable.

These paintings are inviting and asking viewers to stay and explore them for as long as they would like—asking you to have your own moment in the art.

                                                                                                            -Karen Stern