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Karen Goetzinger is a visual artist who after living in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New York, currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fashion Design with an emphasis in Fine Arts from Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her work is exhibited by public and commercial galleries throughout North America, and has been shown in exhibition spaces in China and Australia. It also hangs internationally in private and corporate collections.
Utilizing layers of mixed media, which often includes hand stitched thread, she expressively marks the imprint of time and place on individual memory. Each artwork is intentionally without figurative elements allowing the viewer to become the human element, in solitary interaction with the abstract landscape and their own personal narratives and perhaps fleeting memories.
Recent recognition for her work includes a 2016 exhibition award at the Shenkman Arts Centre LaLande + Doyle Exhibition Space in Ottawa, Ontario; an invitation to participate in the 2017 Biennale internationale du lin de Portneuf in Quebec; as well as 2016 and 2017 grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Karen has taught at the Ottawa School of Art and by invitation in Australia and New Zealand. She was appointed to the Ottawa 2017 Arts, Culture, and Heritage Investment Program Steering Committee and was unanimously elected to the Arts Network Ottawa Board of Directors in 2013, and is currently serving a second term.
Each blank canvas or reclaimed piece of paper allows me to expressively explore the energy and exuberance of colour and marks as a way to record, without literal references, the thoughts, impressions, and memories of a singular day or place in time. I aim to capture those overlooked modest moments of beauty, unearthed in the imperfect and the unexpected, which illuminate our humanity and in particular our ability to feel, empathize, and connect with each other.
Utilizing both intentional and spontaneous layers of mixed media such as acrylic, ink, graphite, oil pastels and sometimes hand stitched thread, I create each painting without figurative forms. The abstract imagery allows viewers to interact and connect with each piece in solitary exploration of the surface. It gives them the opportunity to shift their thoughts from the daily barrage of negativity, to appreciating the beauty in each day waiting to be discovered and to find value and contentment in what may at first seem inconsequential.
58" x 42" acrylic, ink, oil pastel, graphite on stretched canvas
58" x 24" acrylic, ink, graphite, oil pastel on stretched canvas
42" x 58" acrylic, ink, oil pastel, graphite
47" x 39" acrylic, ink, graphite, oil pastel on canvas
40" x 40" acrylic, ink, graphite, oil pastel on stretched canvas
40" x 40" acrylic, ink, graphite, oil pastel on canvas
“Canopy of Hope”
“Where Do We Go From Here?”
“Florissant”
“Storied Night”
“Walk Where the Flowers Grow”
“Reverie”
