fbpx
Menu
ART / ARTIST DIRECTORY / PAINTING & ILLUSTRATION

Artist Directory: Karen Remsen

Karen Remsen is a member of the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory

Karen Remsen is a Chicago-based artist creating oil and mixed-media paintings. Her work centers on exploring the multifaceted nature of female power and identity. Combining paint with reflective materials, her work also explores the beauty and complexity of light as it moves over a surface and changes throughout the day. Karen is a self-taught artist who rediscovered painting in 2020 after a hiatus of nearly 15 years. She has exhibited across the country in galleries that champion imaginative realism and contemporary figurative work.

Karen Remsen paints women because she feels an inherent kinship with them. She is drawn to understanding how each woman has uniquely shaped herself from similar clay – not only a shared biology, but also a shared sense of moving through a world that both celebrates and degrades.

Karen is most interested in depicting women in moments of introspection and reflection. Her wish is to capture the gaze turned inward, seeking inner strength and satisfaction. In the cases where her muse’s gaze meets yours, she wants you to recognize the complex identity that is rooted deep within.

Karen’s oil paintings juxtapose photorealism with elements of abstraction and reflective materials such as gold leaf, platinum leaf, glass, and semi-precious stones.  As light interacts with the different surfaces, it breathes a liveliness and mutability into each piece. The image is never the same, transforming as we look at it from different angles and under changing light. 

Karen-Remsen-Athena

Her hope is not to depict beauty for beauty’s sake, but rather as a tool to capture our attention and free our mind to wander. When we see a beautifully painted hand, for example, we admire the texture of the skin, the fine wrinkles of the knuckles, the hint of veins beneath the surface. As we look more closely, our thoughts may turn to imagine what these hands have touched, and how these hands will age, what they will feel and grasp and create.

When we see her work, Karen hopes that the beauty of the shifting light and the human figure draws us in. She hopes that we lean in, look more closely, and in those moments begin to see reflections of our own understanding of femininity and the human experience.

Karen-Remsen-Undercurrent-lowres

Join cutting-edge artists from around the world

The Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory is a powerful tool for artists looking to grow their visibility, and connect with fellow artists, curators and collectors. To join the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory click here for more information.

Karen Remsen Social Media Accounts

Website | Instagram

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BEAUTIFUL BIZARRE EMAIL LIST


This site is protected by reCaptcha and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.


Beautiful Bizarre will never supply your information to anyone else without your explicit permission - see our PRIVACY POLICY.

Join the Beautiful Bizarre email list

 

This site is protected by reCaptcha and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.


Beautiful Bizarre Magazine takes your privacy seriously, we will
never share your information without your express permission.

14 Shares
Tweet
Pin14
Share
Share