Artist Karen Kunc Visits USU
By Metta Ray
The Department of Art at Utah State University welcomed artist Karen Kunc of Nebraska as part of the Visiting Artist Program Tuesday night.
Her first artwork was created for her mother in third grade. It was a simple flower and butterfly piece, but she has been creating art ever since.
Karen Kunc, Precious Channels, 1983
Using a self analytical thought process, and the geometrical patterning of her surroundings, Kunc is able to construct these vibrant and thought provoking works of art. She uses the “accidents and patterns out of nature” as inspiration, said Kunc.
Using a reduction wood block method, which is the oldest form of printing, consisting of carving patterns into wood and then applying oil-based ink to that wood, she then places paper onto the painted wood and makes a print at which point there is a “sense of magic and revelation” when peeling back the paper, Kunc said.
According to Kunc, the “role of an artist is to make something from nothing” and she uses biological and psychological influences from nature to form her ideas. Although she claims she can’t make anything as beautiful as nature she says she tries to read the “ecological nature message” and be a receptor of things around her.
Different concepts have been used in Kunc’s work; this can be seen when viewing her prints. Her latest work surrounds the idea of negative space. She said she “allowed it to be” when speaking of the use of negative space in her creations. Kunc says her artwork is taking a new direction and she is titling this new work “The Urban-Rural Divide” It is inspired by the “natural flowing urban imbalance”
The down side of using the wood-cut method is the “sacrifice of the natural materials” Kunc commented, that is why she wants her “artwork to have preciousness and preservation”. All materials contribute to the final product, she points out “even paper itself has content”.
Kunc received her BFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975, and her MFA from Ohio State University in 1977. Her work has has been exhibited at the International Print Triennial in Krakow, Poland, and at the 7th Mondial de l'Estampe et de la Gravure Originale, Chamalieres, France. She has won many awards for her artwork including a Fulbright Scholar Award in 1996.
Currently Kunc lives 30 miles outside of Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband Kenny Walton, who is a glass blower. She is a Cather Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she has been teaching since 1983.
By Metta Ray
The Department of Art at Utah State University welcomed artist Karen Kunc of Nebraska as part of the Visiting Artist Program Tuesday night.
Her first artwork was created for her mother in third grade. It was a simple flower and butterfly piece, but she has been creating art ever since.
Karen Kunc, Precious Channels, 1983
Using a self analytical thought process, and the geometrical patterning of her surroundings, Kunc is able to construct these vibrant and thought provoking works of art. She uses the “accidents and patterns out of nature” as inspiration, said Kunc.
Using a reduction wood block method, which is the oldest form of printing, consisting of carving patterns into wood and then applying oil-based ink to that wood, she then places paper onto the painted wood and makes a print at which point there is a “sense of magic and revelation” when peeling back the paper, Kunc said.
According to Kunc, the “role of an artist is to make something from nothing” and she uses biological and psychological influences from nature to form her ideas. Although she claims she can’t make anything as beautiful as nature she says she tries to read the “ecological nature message” and be a receptor of things around her.
Different concepts have been used in Kunc’s work; this can be seen when viewing her prints. Her latest work surrounds the idea of negative space. She said she “allowed it to be” when speaking of the use of negative space in her creations. Kunc says her artwork is taking a new direction and she is titling this new work “The Urban-Rural Divide” It is inspired by the “natural flowing urban imbalance”
The down side of using the wood-cut method is the “sacrifice of the natural materials” Kunc commented, that is why she wants her “artwork to have preciousness and preservation”. All materials contribute to the final product, she points out “even paper itself has content”.
Kunc received her BFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975, and her MFA from Ohio State University in 1977. Her work has has been exhibited at the International Print Triennial in Krakow, Poland, and at the 7th Mondial de l'Estampe et de la Gravure Originale, Chamalieres, France. She has won many awards for her artwork including a Fulbright Scholar Award in 1996.
Currently Kunc lives 30 miles outside of Lincoln, Nebraska with her husband Kenny Walton, who is a glass blower. She is a Cather Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she has been teaching since 1983.
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