Karen Starrett
What impels me to paint is the need to make things. During the past few years I have concentrated mostly on painting. The physicality of different mediums has also propelled me to create monoprints, collages and three dimensional assemblages.
The act of painting—moving my hand across the canvas—is pure freedom. I begin by drawing random shapes with yellow ochre paint. By wiping away some of the shapes—then overlapping, obscuring and combining them—new forms arise. Each new shape and an evolving color palette informs what comes next until what I'm painting connects with a place or event in my memory. This process draws me into a conversation with the painting. At some point the conversation is over until it begins again in a new painting.
Exhibition highlights include one person shows at Johnson and Johnson and Educational Testing Service. My work has been seen in museums and galleries in the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area and is in private collections. It has also appeared in magazines, catalogues, corporate calendars, and a poetry anthology.
I received a B.A. in art education at Rutgers University and studied at the School of Visual Arts. In addition to being a certified NJ art teacher, I am a dementia practitioner and facilitate art workshops for people with limited physical and cognitive abilities. My love of personal imagery and the use of paint, paper and mixed media as the foundation of my curriculum, is a continuation of my work as an artist.
For a more detailed list of my exhibition history, etc., please see my resume on this website.
What impels me to paint is the need to make things. During the past few years I have concentrated mostly on painting. The physicality of different mediums has also propelled me to create monoprints, collages and three dimensional assemblages.
The act of painting—moving my hand across the canvas—is pure freedom. I begin by drawing random shapes with yellow ochre paint. By wiping away some of the shapes—then overlapping, obscuring and combining them—new forms arise. Each new shape and an evolving color palette informs what comes next until what I'm painting connects with a place or event in my memory. This process draws me into a conversation with the painting. At some point the conversation is over until it begins again in a new painting.
Exhibition highlights include one person shows at Johnson and Johnson and Educational Testing Service. My work has been seen in museums and galleries in the New York / New Jersey metropolitan area and is in private collections. It has also appeared in magazines, catalogues, corporate calendars, and a poetry anthology.
I received a B.A. in art education at Rutgers University and studied at the School of Visual Arts. In addition to being a certified NJ art teacher, I am a dementia practitioner and facilitate art workshops for people with limited physical and cognitive abilities. My love of personal imagery and the use of paint, paper and mixed media as the foundation of my curriculum, is a continuation of my work as an artist.
For a more detailed list of my exhibition history, etc., please see my resume on this website.
