shadow play

Shadow Play Redux

As I mentioned in my February post, I have been honored to have my work included in the current Exhibiting Members Exhibition at the National Arts Club. (Open to the public Monday – Sunday, 9 to 5, until June 15.) Please stop by!

I never dreamed of this incredible honor on that sunny day in Vancouver when I was goofing off watching Netflix and saw a captivating shadow on the living room wall.

I took this picture:

This picture grew into a series of 14 images that very afternoon.

I met some encouraging friends who liked the series and encouraged me to submit the work to galleries. So I did!

I wound up having a solo exhibition of this work at the Havana Gallery in Vancouver in 2015, but felt I needed something more visually arresting to add to the 14 images, which were each 1-3/4″ by 1-3/4″. So I created a giant 8’x10′ version of the image!

As an icebreaker, I took pictures of all my friends and relatives at the opening, with their favorite works of art. I turned these images into a video, which was another spontaneous project that still delights my heart when I watch it.

One of the outtakes was this picture of my friend Bruce, holding my sparkly handbag for me. I just love this picture of him!

Flash forward to 2020, when I was preparing for my first New York solo exhibition. I wanted to show the Shadow Play series again, but the Revelation Gallery is bigger and there was a large empty space on the wall.

So I decided to do something with my picture of Bruce, and voilà, “Bruce’s Handbag” became a focal point of the exhibit. I printed the digitally enhanced photo onto canvas, and then embellished the piece with glitter to bring out the light and sparkle on the details.

I also decided to have a synesthesia component to the opening reception, and thanks to the curator Graeme Napier’s brainstorm and my friend Hannah’s and some other musicians’ creative generosity, a sound component was born. We had a minute-long impromptu musical performance for each of the 14 pieces. I projected the images on the wall behind the musicians so that the audience could see the image that was being played.

Everything in New York shut down soon after the opening reception on March 3, so the recordings and photos from that evening languished on my hard drive. I had intended to do a video of the event, but life went sideways.

So here, for the first time, is a video of the musical segment that goes with the blue piece, entitled “Nostalgia.”

The taste pairing with this piece was blueberry port. Just relish what Hannah Reimann and Steve Sandberg did on their spontaneous collaboration! (The Aeon Ensemble was amazing as well. Stay tuned for the complete series showing all of the musicians.)

Now “Bruce’s Handbag” is hanging on the walls of the National Arts Club. What a difference from the fate of “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park”!

Summer Piano in WSP — *Kicked to the curb. My doorman promised it would end up on someone’s living room wall! It was gone in minutes.*

Life is a mysterious dynamic unfolding that continues upwelling like a fountain. I love the adventure of seeing where it takes me.

With Bruce at NAC — *With Bruce at the National Arts Club opening reception. Five of the original series of 14 are on the wall behind Bruce.*

About Shadow Play Exhibit at Revelation Gallery, March 3 to 28

*Artist Karen Rempel at Shadow Play exhibit opening reception at Revelation Gallery.* Photo by Dusty Berke.

What is the difference between the substance and its shape? Is it an absence of light, a reflection of light? The shadow seems to reveal new potentials for the object. New possibilities, alternate realities. A hint of magic, hidden within the ordinary.

The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow or pixel is a doorway into experiencing deep universal truths. What happens when you blow up a pixel? What is inside it?

The tiny images invite the viewer to step close and immerse in the feeling-world of the different possible manifestations of the form.

The creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. The shifting colour tones and emphases on different elements of the image evoke different moods, from somber to playful to compelling. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.

about the artwork

Shadow Play is a series of 14 miniatures exploring the connections between shadow, familiar forms, color, and emotion. The series was first exhibited at the Havana Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC. The second phase of the art project took stillness into motion, adding a multiplicity of personal responses to the art, and resulted in a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xC4AK5GMYw). The third phase of the project brings synesthesia to the experience, adding taste pairings and the music dimension of original compositions in response to the art. The fourth phase of the project is you!

Artist Karen Rempel and guests at Shadow Play exhibit at Revelation Gallery — *Alexandra Kargin, George Sanders, Karen Rempel, Shawn Curran, Jeffrey Reid, and Tinka Harvard at the opening reception of Shadow Play at Revelation Gallery.* Photo by Dusty Berke.

synesthesia

Synesthesia is an interplay of the five senses. Music can evoke color, or a color might conjure flavor. Some synesthetes experience an intermingling of the five senses with letters of the alphabet, numbers, words, days of the week, and time itself. In this exhibit, the chosen flavors are mostly sweet, evoking the love essence in the heart center.

sally’s whipped cream

Whipped cream was popular in the 16^th century in England and Europe, and was first prepared by whipping cream with willow or rush branches. It is often sweetened with sugar. Whipped cream (crème fouettée) was first mentioned in the 1820 edition of Viard’s Cuisinier Impérial. Sally’s whipped cream is a secret recipe developed in the mid-1900’s and invokes the flavor of New York cheesecake.

about the artist

Karen Rempel began taking pictures in her teens and first published her photography in 2000. When she sees the magic, weirdness, and beauty in simple moments, she is inspired to share the wonder with others. She captures images and expresses her vision through digital photography and art, video blogs, and photojournalism. She is also an award-winning writer, and has written and published in many genres. She has a monthly column, “Karen’s Quirky Style,” in WestView News, the Voice of the West Village. View her work here and watch her “Another New York Love Affair – Audio Meditations” art project on YouTube.

review

Canine Cali reviewed the exhibit for WestView News. She gave the show 3 very enthusiastic puppy paws. Woof!

see the art, hear the music

Visit the exhibit at Revelation Gallery until March 28. Gallery hours: Mon-Wed, 10 AM-3 PM, Thursdays 1 PM-3 PM. 224 Waverly Place (at 7th Avenue and West 11th Street).

Hear the AEON Ensemble perform at the gallery on Thursday, March 12, 7 PM. The AEON Ensemble commences its monthly synesthetic concert series with works by Hildegard von Bingen, Meredith Monk, David Lang, and music inspired by the Shadow Play artwork. The artist Karen Rempel will be reading a poem about Shadow Play during the performance. Get tickets.

get social

Please share your photos on Instagram:

@stjvny

@karensquirkystyle

#revelationgallery

@hannahreimannmusic

@aeonensemble

When you visit, the artist would love to meet you there and get a photo of you with your favorite piece. Text Karen at 347-362-5677.

Love for Sale

Nostalgia - Shadow Play art for sale — *Nostalgia – the crowd favourite at the exhibit. Psyche was a close second.*

When I contemplated taking the step of offering my artwork for sale online, Ella Fitzgerald’s version of Love for Sale came into my mind. Hence this post’s title. However, the two are not so far apart, as creating art is an expression of my heart that has a component of love in it, whatever else might be part of the stew.

Now that I’ve had my first exhibit, the next logical step seems to be to offer my work for sale to a broader audience. So it’s official. If you saw the video and liked the creative inspiration that arose from my photo series Shadow Play, I invite you to send me some money and make one or more of these images your own.

Since the series is about playing with an image and seeing its different moods, most people found it hard to pick just one that they liked the best. So I am going to offer variable pricing based on the number of pieces you select:

One shadow play: $99
Bliss: $59*
Two shadow plays: $149
Three shadows playing: $219
Five: $359
All 14 shadows: $879

You will receive the artwork printed on glossy photo stock, 8.5×11.

To expedite shipping, I will mail the pieces unframed and ready for mounting. I’ve adjusted the prices accordingly. I suggest using a 10×13 frame, but you can do whatever you like with the piece once it’s in your hands!

Contact me if you’d like to put my shadows on your wall.

P.S. The grand-daddy print, 7 ft x 9 ft, ink on canvas, is $1,900.

* Because everyone deserves bliss!

Shadow Play, ink on canvas, 7' x 9' — *This grand-daddy version of the image is the original uncropped version. There are details at the left and right sides that I cropped for the miniature series. Jon is not included!*

My first art exhibit!

I am very excited to announce that my photo series Shadow Play has been accepted for exhibit at the Havana Art Gallery!

Please join me for the opening reception on August 9, from 4 to 7 PM. If you can’t make it to the reception, the exhibit will run from August 6 to 19, so you can check it out another day.

The Heart Sutra in Buddhism includes the statement “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” A shadow is empty, yet it has form. Perhaps a single shadow is a doorway into understanding deep universal truths.

The creation of this series was a playful act, form arising spontaneously from emptiness, yet never really existing. From light and shadow waves to eye, electrons, neural circuits, to pixels and bytes to dots of ink on paper, the final result is a tiny form, reflecting the inconsequential temporariness and changing insubstantiality of a shadow on a living-room wall.

In addition to writing, I am fascinated with light and colour. Shadows have really been catching my eye lately. Here is the result of a photography experiment I conducted yesterday. In this series of 14 photos, the shifting colour tones and emphases on different elements of the image evoke different moods, from somber to playful to compelling. [Check out post about the exhibit of this series at Havana Art Gallery.]

L’Ouevre was the title of the 14th novel in Émile Zola’s Rougon-Macquart series, first published in serial form in 1885. I once wrote a biography about Zola for a writing class. Interesting how this word popped into my head two decades later as I was thinking of names for these images!