Good Morning Universe, 8×9.5″, 2009

Brave New World, 8×9″ 2008

Broken World, 8×9″, 2008

Stream, 10×10″, 2008

Artist Statement

I am drawn to everyday objects that are often overlooked or discarded. Using a wide range of disciplines, I transform the materials into small works. With a modern primitive style I balance the positive and negative space that gives a piece a sense of beauty. Taking an unorthodox approach I embellish the surface of my work with steel nails and apply tiny circles to explore nature and its relationship with the synthetic.

Website

http://www.steveriley.artlogsites.com/

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May 30 & 31 (Saturday and Sunday) noon – 6 p.m.

Visit the wonders of Red Hook – buy strangely named furniture at Ikea, shop for groceries at Fairway, eat delicious food at the Red Hook Ballpark, and SEE FANTASTIC ARTWORK.

More details at http://brooklynstudiotour.com/

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SEASCAPES
The seascapes are a series titled “Anywhere But Here”. The series consists of 436 different scenes.  The water is actually 1/8″ thick pieces of clear, vacuum-formed plastic.  The varied molded forms create the wave structure. The water color is created by placing layers of acetate underneath the plastic.  The coloring and sky are created with lights and backdrops.  The entire construction is eight inches square. I shot the scenes with a 35 mm camera using a macro lens.  I chose to shoot this small film size so that the image would be grainy when enlarged. The photograph then literally breaks down.  This is intended to reinforce the idea that the image is a simulation.  They have been shown singularly and as installations of between 1,113 and 2,712 images mounted to walls (each photo is 4″ x 6″).

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Postcards, billboards and magazines instill in us a desire to be physically and emotionally transported to “a better place”.  We see digitally enhanced, perfectly-lit and styled homes, gardens and people. These commercial images are merely representations, completely unattainable. These constructions are meant to instill longing in the viewer.

I, too, create such non-places: images that appear real, but are, in fact, simulations. I construct images of locales, persons and lifestyles. My work is meant to isolate and emphasize the desire for the other, which is, in the end, just a creation. The viewer is left to consider this cycle of desire and dissatisfaction.

We peruse decorating and travel magazines, read adventure travel stories and scan billboards. These things instill in us a desire to have and/or be somewhere else, someone else, but some place where all our wants may be fulfilled.

Born:Chicago, 1970.
Lives and works in Brooklyn.

EDUCATION
MFA-Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI(1995)
B.A-DePauw University, Greencastle, IN (1992)
Parson’s School of Design, Paris, France (summer 1991)
Essex University, Essex, England (1990-91)

WEBSITE
http://www.karenconnell.com

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