Kari Breitigam:
In Search of Serenity
November 22, 2019 - January 11, 2020
Hillery Community Gallery
Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts
In Search of Serenity
November 22, 2019 - January 11, 2020
Hillery Community Gallery
Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts
The Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to present In Search of Serenity, an exhibition featuring the minimalist artwork of local artist Kari Breitigam. Kari is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweler based in Houston, Texas. She has experience in a wide range of media including embroidery, weaving, painting, collage, soft sculpture, and functional arts. She launched her namesake accessories line in 2013, creating limited edition designs that explore the use of fiber, metal, and dyed textiles. Her current studio work focuses on fiber/textile art and painting. Kari received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from The Ohio State University in 2009 and an MFA in Painting from Indiana State University in 2012. She is currently Professor of Art at Lone Star College-University Park.
Image above:
Paths III, 2017, dyed cotton and velvet appliqué on canvas, 37" x 37"
Image above:
Paths III, 2017, dyed cotton and velvet appliqué on canvas, 37" x 37"
"Twinkling Stars", 2016, wool and silk latch hook, 15" x 18"
Artist Statement
The fiber paintings presented here belong to two recent series titled The Traveler and Natural Abstractions. At heart, they are landscapes, although some may not appear so at first glance. They are simplified views of our natural world, geographically ambiguous in their abstracted state. The uncertainty of location is at once mysterious and inviting. I feel connected to these places that are anywhere and everywhere, and that connection feels like home.
Constructed of cotton, linen, silk, and wool, the works provide a direct connection to our natural physical world. I dye, stitch, and knot each work by hand, allowing an intimate relationship with my work. The act of stitching is soothing and meditative. I grew up surrounded by my mother’s latch-hook and macramé, so fiber work has always provided me a sense of nostalgia. Although minimal works are often viewed as cold, I find comfort in them due to many hours of late nights, steadily stitching by lamplight, with the loose fabric piled on my lap.
The compositions reflect my embrace of minimalism, and with each new body of work I gravitate toward ever increasing simplicity. This simplicity allows the mind to rest in an otherwise overstimulating world. Yet, the simplicity deceives. Closer engagement with each piece reveals thousands of subtle handsewn stitches or knots. The minimal landscapes may appear lonely and isolated, but evidence of such deliberate labor conjures an intimacy that suggests otherwise. The result is an abstracted landscape that is not cold, but rather provides a tender connection to an unknown location.
The fiber paintings presented here belong to two recent series titled The Traveler and Natural Abstractions. At heart, they are landscapes, although some may not appear so at first glance. They are simplified views of our natural world, geographically ambiguous in their abstracted state. The uncertainty of location is at once mysterious and inviting. I feel connected to these places that are anywhere and everywhere, and that connection feels like home.
Constructed of cotton, linen, silk, and wool, the works provide a direct connection to our natural physical world. I dye, stitch, and knot each work by hand, allowing an intimate relationship with my work. The act of stitching is soothing and meditative. I grew up surrounded by my mother’s latch-hook and macramé, so fiber work has always provided me a sense of nostalgia. Although minimal works are often viewed as cold, I find comfort in them due to many hours of late nights, steadily stitching by lamplight, with the loose fabric piled on my lap.
The compositions reflect my embrace of minimalism, and with each new body of work I gravitate toward ever increasing simplicity. This simplicity allows the mind to rest in an otherwise overstimulating world. Yet, the simplicity deceives. Closer engagement with each piece reveals thousands of subtle handsewn stitches or knots. The minimal landscapes may appear lonely and isolated, but evidence of such deliberate labor conjures an intimacy that suggests otherwise. The result is an abstracted landscape that is not cold, but rather provides a tender connection to an unknown location.