Thursday, October 10, 2013

In Process: Karen Marston

Karen Marston in her studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2013. Photo by Bill Orcutt.



Today we take a look the painting process of Brooklyn based painter, Karen Marston.
Here Marston presents us with a look at the development of a large, oil on linen, painting titled Hurricane Wave with Traffic Light. The work is part of the artist's larger, disaster series which goes about . . ."Blurring the line between natural and manmade disasters, our influence on our climate has enlarged these phenomena beyond their natural proportions." 



From the artist's statement:

The near simultaneous explosions of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the volcano in Iceland in 2010 triggered my interest in disasters. These images became an external manifestation of a certain post 9/11 zeitgeist, part of a growing litany of frightening catastrophes consuming the world around us. My most recent paintings in this exploration focus on tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires. Blurring the line between natural and manmade disasters, our influence on our climate has enlarged these phenomena beyond their natural proportions. I am mesmerized by the power of elemental threats like fire and storm, bigger and more frightening than ever, amplified rather than tamed by modernity.



Oil sketch on paper, 11x15in.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Final version: Hurricane Wave with Traffic Light, 2013, oil on linen, 44x54in.






*All images courtesy of the artist.

No comments: