A Theater of Space at the Edge of Chaos - Karen Snouffer
My abstract work evolves from repeated themes based on contradiction and movement, forces materializing in collage, drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation. Mixed media provides a fluid structure for the exploration of disparate ideas and offers a broad material vocabulary for unpredictable combinations.
Artistic tension in my work arises from: still versus energetic, organic versus synthetic, fragility versus strength, bizarre versus logical, flat versus relief, wall versus room and chaos versus order. These opposites co-exist and agitate within physical and psychic space.
I am intrigued with the relationship between chaos and order as a symbol for life processes as is stated in chaos theory; that within the randomness of chaotic systems (such as nature), there are underlying moments of order and pattern. My drawings are often filled with random, energetic movements in ink and collage. Found among markings and layered materials are moments of ordered patterns - visual stops of rhythm and repetition. These moments offer structured relief from meandering, seemingly aimless, dashing paths and drippings of ink.
My experiences with improvisational dance have created a body awareness that frequently inserts itself into my work. Copious markings and unnamable shapes reflect movement in space, a searching for direction and discovery, found on paths and within layers.
Bio: Snouffer has exhibited nationally at: Art Center South Florida, Miami; Aqua Art Fair, Miami; The Work Space, New York; Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art; Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati; Hammond Harkins Gallery, Columbus, OH; The Ohio State University Center for the Humanities; Poor Dog Space, Los Angeles; Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis; and internationally at La Médiathèque, Epernay, France. She is a former residency fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA, and a past Artist-in-Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA; a recipient of six Ohio Arts Council individual artist fellowships; a GLCA New Directions Initiative; and a McGregor Foundation Global Exchange Grant to France. She is represented by Hammond Harkins Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. Her work is in the Girls Club Collection, the Pizzuti Collection, Sun Life of Canada, The Greater Columbus Convention Center and numerous private collections.
Snouffer has collaborated with poets, dancers, sculptors and new media artists. Her work has been published in three books: The Next Hedgerow; Love Life; Love Life: Memory and Nature at Play; and Somatic Principles and Dance.
Snouffer received both her BS in Education and her MFA at The Ohio State University.
She is a Professor Emerita at Kenyon College and has a studio and residence in Gambier, Ohio.
Listen To Full Episode: