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Museo Gallery

Museo Gallery

Langley, WA

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  • Artist: Karen Abel

My slab-built structures reflect dwellings, landforms, wind, and the sea. I work in low-fire clay with an emphasis on strong colors and loose, spontaneous surface textures. Narrative is central to all my work; The house form brims with symbolism and meaning – both comic and dark.
Weather is an inescapable feature of everyday life near the sea. It is often dramatic and rapidly changing. Weather Watching examines the intersection between our dwelling and the environment it exists within. I try to dissolve the boundaries between the two and emphasize the juxtaposition between the straight lines of buildings against the organic shapes of the landscape. In some pieces, the house is a framework for the narrative in this body of work; But always the real story is how our dwellings shrink against the onslaught of wind, rain, and waves, or are dwarfed by deep forests, high cliffs, and big
views.
There is a hidden fragility to what otherwise might seem like a solid and stable existence – either the fragility of the human relationships inside the home, the menacing weather outside, or the fault lines, unstable soil, and eroding cliffs on which the house sits. My surface designs hint at that instability with deep fissures cut through the clay surface, houses placed precariously near the landscape’s edge or waves and wind overtaking the dwelling.
Gathering Storm I by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Gathering Storm I
  • Earthenware, stain, glaze
    7 x 2.5 x 5 in
    $300
Spring Orchard III by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Spring Orchard III
  • Ceramic, glaze
    14 x 4 x 3 in
    $325
A Place to Return To by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • A Place to Return To
  • Ceramic, glaze
    9 x 10.5 x 4 in
    $475
Row House - Yellow by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Row House - Yellow
  • Ceramic, glaze
    4.5 x 2.5 x 4 in
    $140
Row House - Blue by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Row House - Blue
  • Ceramic, glaze
    4.5 x 2.5 x 5 in
    $140
Common Ground by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Common Ground
  • Ceramic, glaze
    4.5 x 10 x 5 in
    $500
After the Rain by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • After the Rain
  • Ceramic, glaze
    7 x 2.5 x 5 in
    $375
The Great Chair Migration by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • The Great Chair Migration
  • Ceramic, glaze
    11 x 6 x 3.5 in
    $495
Holding Space by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • Holding Space
  • Ceramic, glaze
    14 x 5 x 6.5 in
    $500
The Quiet Guest by Karen Abel, Image 1.
  • Karen Abel
  • The Quiet Guest
  • Ceramic and mixed media
    15 x 6 x 3 in
    $475
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