A Landscape Reclaimed, oil on canvas, 2009 (Private Collection)
Beautiful City, oil on canvas, 2006, (Private Collection)
About my most recent series of paintings titled "A Landscape Reclaimed":
Natural and cultural spaces enmeshed in a state of flux lead to a pervasive tension indicative of a landscape determined to survive and to evolve despite the human tendency to destroy or desire to preserve and reclaim.”
The landscape, its inhabitants, and habitats are in the process of recombining and co-constructing. We impact on the landscape and it impacts on us. This is significant in considering the nature of people and place and their interdependency as seen through the affected landscape around us.
Snatch, beads, cotton fabric, bra staves, zipper, poly fibrefill, 2010
Cherry, jelly mold, wire, natural bristles, vinyl, cotton batt, silicone 2005
About my most recent sculpture from the series "Generation":
I view the feminine body as a volatile and coded subject, a landscape of feminine tropes, archetypes, myths and inscribed gender roles. I look to externalize the internal, reveal the container that is contained, and to voice the biological with intent to develop a visual language from an exclusively feminine point of view.
This close examination of femaleness leads to my (visual) ruminations on gender, sexuality, fertility, and the minutiae of feminine body experience.
In the series Generation I explore gender and sexual identity as a social construct. I create forms combining organic and mechanical materials, and objects that are distinctly feminine or primarily used and owned by women. Individually, each piece describes an intimate body, vulnerable, and an evocative aggregate of personal aspects and cultural influences. Together these forms present a lineage of femininity, of hybridity, and transgressive bodies that address the complexity of identity.
Karen Wardle is a Winnipeg based sculptor and painter. Her work investigates the complexities of human ecology, the challenges associated with gender politics and the semiotics of the feminine. Her work has exhibited in group shows and solo shows across Canada most recently in “Stone Age” at the Saint Norbert Arts Centre in 2010. She has received numerous grants from the Manitoba Arts Council and participated in the Mentoring Artists for Women’s Art foundation advisory program 2003-2004. Karen has an Advertising Art Degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts to find out more about Karen go to www.karenwardle.com.