Artist Spotlight: Karen Sarrow -- FEM

Karen Sarrow, Protectors, Vets Arrive at DAPL, Acrylic and oil on linen, 25 x 31"

Karen Sarrow’s new exhibition, FEM, is comprised of a series of political paintings depicting struggles and environmental activism.

Karen Sarrow, After 9-11, Acrylic and mixed media on linen, 17 x 17"

The piece After 9-11 was painted during the Obama Administration, partly celebrating how the country had come together to elect a new President, reflected by the purple morning glories, and mourning the recent history of the Iraq War and violence in the Middle East. The future is obscured by the present immediacy of a chain link fence, with the fog of war and the tragedy of 9-11 in a faded vision inside the fence.

Karen Sarrow, Chain, Acrylic and mixed media on linen, 17 x 17"

Chain, painted prior to After 9-11, was more focused on the position of Sarrow as a new mom, acknowledging that society held the ideals of corporations, religion, energy and chemical exploitation higher than the health of families, children, and the environment.

Themes of human vulnerability permeate the FEM series of paintings, to emphasize that the life of the body is a physical reminder that we only have one earth to protect. The central image of the feminine is one that Sarrow has long waited to represent. The Earth, as an expectant mother, as with the feminine, will ultimately not be overcome by suppression.

Karen Sarrow, Fire Rose I, Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 19"

Karen Sarrow was born in the U.K., and grew up in Missouri. She received an M.A. in Art History from The Ohio State University, and an MFA in Painting from Pratt Institute. She serves as TAG President and co-founder of Imagi.Life. She and her family live in Studio City.


The exhibition runs through September 22, 2018
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 15, 3pm