Preview listing for October installation, Studio 14, opening 10/4

Studio 14 presents 'Wait', fourth in a series of installation art by Karen Powell.  'Wait' is a visual commentary on existentialist issues in contemporary society. 

Images of Dolls installation

Studio 14 Installation for August, Pipes

Pipes is an installation of pvc pipes hanging from the ceiling of the studio at various lengths. The appearance is such that they look like they are suspended in mid air, giving a weightless affect. A couple of the pipes were attached to each other with connectors. The installation is monochromatic and unstructured, as if one took all the connections of a geometric pipe sculpture apart and let them hang free in space. As a result, the viewer is able to move into and through the pipes, and the pipes are capable of responding to the unique movement of each participant. The viewer is invited to cut the pipes at will.  A pipe cutter is placed on a small glass table in the center of the room.

One result of the installation is an un-structuring, in which the viewer can participate to push the un-structuring further by cutting the pipes. Any meaning from this particular installation is found not in the building action, but in letting all the elements of the pipe materials used 'just be' in the space, not to 'be built', and that the work as a whole can intimately respond to the viewer's participation (movement through the pipes) in a more direct and authentic way as a result.

Further meaning for the viewer can be derived from actively un-structuring the pipe even more by cutting it with the pipe cutters, requiring a choice and action from the viewer. Various symbolic meanings may become apparent from cutting the pipe which may provoke new association to one's unique perception and identification in the space.

Studio 14 installation July 2013, guest artist Puja Gupta

Explore the infinite in each other through "Forever in 1", an art installation by guest artist Puja Gupta. The piece "blows up" one's self image via a large kaleidoscope. 

Boxes, further

the night divide/s the day

            NEW WATERCOLORS

design by Gloria Steinem 'we are linked, not ranked.'

night pipes

Pipes, emerging

#2

Pipes, June 7 5-8pm Studio 14 200 Main Burlington

Box, first in a series of art installation. Friday May 3, 2013.

Box is first in a series of installation art shown in Studio 14 at 200 Main Street, Burlington, VT.  Each month, there will be a new installation with the intention to bring more awareness and experience of installation art  to the public, specifically the Burlington area. You enter the studio into a box the size of the room and 9ft tall.  There is a smaller open box in the center of the room and 2 small chairs in one corner. Box began with the idea of playing on the cliche of 'thinking out of the box' and that one can think they are 'outside of the box', but ultimately we are always inside of another 'box', hence never really 'outside of the box'.  Entering the studio, one can see that they are outside of one box, yet still inside of another. The work can be considered minimalist, monochromatic and essentialist. In the process of making the installation and after, with others comments, many additional themes and responses arose including; corporate oppression, reincarnation, safety, antidote to overstimulation of society, the impulse to 'contain' or 'compartmentalize' art especially if it challenges us, impermanence, temporality of the work, a visceral physical experience of being inside and a part of the artwork, an examination of the sensory experience of boxes/cardboard, meditative, look inside.

Powerful!

Pipes

Studio 14 invites you to an intimate experience with the innate qualities of the pipe. "Pipes", second in a series of installation art by Karen Powell evokes an essentialist perspective on the subject matter and provides the opening for new association.  Open First Friday Art Walk 5-8pm and by appointment.

Located on the second floor of the Park Hill Building, Suite 14, 200 Main Street (next to Mirabelle's). 802-318-6050.

greedy and vain

"Artists are very greedy but not necessarily for money. There are so many other ways to get rich. Instead, they're always on the prowl for what I would call 'glimmerings,' the merest suggestion of a shape or an image -- some inkling that might become a painting, sculpture or performance. They're always looking, thinking, collecting, making, arranging, borrowing, experimenting, ruminating. The perpetual barrage of ideas is why they keep notebooks and obsessively self-document in order to hoard every possibility." ~Jeanne Silverthorne

Reposting the first installation that I did at the Champlain Mill, May 2010, titled 'For the Children'

Originally, I had a concept of an installation with many white, sheer, fabric panels, 3ft x 7ft hanging in a larger space, where the participant could weave through and find a stool in the center with a red plexiglass piece hanging in the center as a reflection on the theme of life and death, or ideally, ultimately whatever it inspires in the viewer. 

This Champlain Mill show had a theme of the culture of the mills when they were working mills in the early 1900s. I adapted my installation idea to a small loft space in the mill, and adjusted the inner reflection area to one of a contemplation of the lost childhood's of the children who worked long hours in the mill, and a further reflection/comparison on the pressures on the modern day child. A worthy question we can all ask ourselves, from basic parenting, to schools, activities and sports; 'Are we allowing our children to be children? What kind of pressure are we putting on our children to perform?'

The installation is hanging fabric that guides the viewer through a maze ending in the final inner space of chair and table with teddy bear. There is a light in the center over the chair that glows, muted, from the outside, brightest in the inner space. There is a rough 'weaving' piece at the end of the final hallway, and a symbolic panel of fabric at the start, the fabric is a good replication of the fabric that would have been woven by the children in the mill.

The space most obviously evokes symbolism of inner child, and can also symbolize layers of self and other contemplations beyond the original concept. It can possibly be viewed as like an inner sanctum, or solo sanitarium if you will, the womb, etc.

It is a participatory space that asks the viewer to trust the process, the viewer being unknowing of where they are being led, or what is in the center. There is a brief description at the start of the piece at the bottom of the stairs.

The piece also plays on the viewers decisions/confidence in participating in an art piece...should i touch the bear? can i sit in the chair? as i walk by the weaved piece on the wall, i accidentally pulled a piece of the plastic or rope, should i fix it? my child pulled some of the weaving off the wall, what should i do? All of these questions/experiences for the viewer are intentional. Ultimately, I believe as an artist, that if we are inviting the viewer into a piece of our art, to participate with it, touching it is very important as well. I also sprayed some essential oils to evoke the sense of smell, which I don't think will still be strong by the time of the show. The weaving was intentionally set up roughly and haphazardly so, hopefully, even if the viewer chose not to sit in the chair or touch the bear, or contemplate the various themes, they'll catch a piece of the weaving on their purse or something as they walk by and be 'forced' to participate by having to weave the piece back in.

The entire piece is monochromatic as a 'backdrop' of serenity and peace for contemplating a serious and quite disturbing theme. However, it was important to me to also have a gentle piece that invites the viewer in and encourages participation in the ways stated above, but also allows the viewer to not engage at all in deeper contemplations. Being in the loft space allows the viewer to read the description and decide from the start whether to go further into the experience by walking up the stairs. The choice continues as to whether just walk the maze and simply look at the objects, or take it further and spend some time sitting and seeing what the space and the bear evoke in themselves. There is potential to walk out of the maze and piece and descend the stairs a changed and new person with ideally, a new perspective.

Box Preview

A preview image of what one part of box looks like.  It's a must to experience in person!

Go there.

Installation

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