Stillness Interrupted
Karen Maiolo
June 28 - July 20th, 2008
Opening Reception: June 28th, 5-8pm. Artist In Attendance
Interruption 2008. 53 3/4 x 89 3/4 inches. Oil on Canvas.
By Karen Maiolo
Summit Gallery of Fine Art is pleased to present the second solo exhibition of paintings by Karen Maiolo. Following up her highly successful first exhibition, Maiolo continues to explore the pristine landscape that surrounds her home in Banff National Park. Maiolo’s ongoing pursuit of landscape devoid of horizon lines are still in play, however in many of the new paintings Maiolo pushes further exploration of the delicate balance between what is abstract and what is representational painting. Using juxtaposing images, such as depicted newsprint, as a foundation followed by layering separate images, such as a thick expanse of pine trees; Maiolo skillfully and seamlessly collapses the images into each other. With two frames of mind Maiolo applies a repetitive process of editing the subject followed by adding layers.
With a deep rooted familiarity for the places she depicts, Maiolo often forgoes documenting a place in time, typical of landscape painting. Her familiarity goes far beyond the casual encounter often depicted as a connection to landscape through visually accurate colours. Maiolo’s connection to landscape transcends the obvious physical presence, in search of a depiction that is deeper and more thought-provoking; she includes her memories, and emotional connection, transcribed through line quality, shapes, texture, collapsed negative spaces and energy charged colour fields.
Karen Maiolo is a practicing artist for over 20 years. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada she attended the Dundas Valley School of Art and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, during the early 1980’s. In 1990 Karen Maiolo relocated to Banff, Alberta to where she has developed and continues an active painting practice. With a history in performance, Maiolo had connects with the Precipice Theatre and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Maiolo’s paintings are in private collections throughout Canada, the United States, England and Holland. Karen Maiolo currently has a signifigant large-scale painting up for short-listed consideration to be included in the Alberta Foundation for the Arts collection.
