Alumni Art Exhibition 2021 - Karen Tepaz

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KAREN TEPAZ

Four oval shaped abstract sculptures

Loose Form #4, 2019
Aqua Resin, Cardboard, Fiber Glass, and Gouache
24 x 58 x 3 inches

Two ceramic abstract sculptures

Primary, 2019
Ceramics and Acrylic Paint
15 x 9.5 x 7 inches

An astract sculpture with angular shapes on each side

Blush, 2019
Aqua Resin, Fiber Glass, Marble Dust, and Gouache
18 x 14 x 10 inches

 
I am interested in the expressive potential of objects, through fixed structural images activated by the space they inhabit. My recent work continues to investigate form and color while experimenting with material and surface treatment. I explore formal aesthetic’s through a visual lexicon, drawing from the way language and the body are linked as tools to communicate with. My free-flowing and organic forms develop from an intuitive, gestural process, that are often coated with aqua resin, acrylic paint, marble dust and chalk resulting in a physical experience that arouses a multidimensional presence. Curves, lines and loops represent energy flowing through the works, flowers challenge conventional ideas of femininity where slits become gaping mouths blurred by rough edges and stains. Both the work and the viewer are free to shift and transform perspectives at every angle as each form unfolds naturally. I’ve been thinking about how every surface we touch is not the same, that symbols can be understood on a global sense and how the body moves in space. For me, the intersection between sculpture and painting are in constant conversation and my desire to create a space for my work to explore the shifts from 3D to 2D is what generates my work. 

Karen Tepaz, born in Los Angeles, CA, holds an M.F.A in Sculpture from Yale University School of Art and a B.F.A in Ceramics from California State University, Long Beach.  Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Sardine gallery, Thomas Hunter Projects, Cacttus gallery, and group shows at Underdonk, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles, Copyright Berlin, Fordham University, The Shirley Fiterman Art Center, BMCC, The Gallery ATLAS, among others. In 2018 Tepaz co-curated “Flat Touch” and “In Between the Lines” in the Steuben Gallery at Pratt Institute.  She has participated in residencies at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs and Art Farm Nebraska.  Tepaz lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.