In the late 1970s, Karen Kunc came on the printmaking
horizon like a blazing fireball, and she continues to blaze a trail in American
printmaking. Since she earned her Masters degree from Ohio State University, eventually making her way
back to teach in her native Nebraska at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go
Huskers!), she has helped assure a prominence to their already fine
printmaking program.
What originally fascinated people with Kunc’s work, and
continues to amaze them today, is not
only their enormity of scale, but the color, funk and complexity of her imagery
visually connect her prints with other media – the upshot is Kunc’s works don’t
necessarily look like prints. They cross over to something more painterly, and
if someone weren’t informed about the methodology and look of prints, one could
assume they were paintings. What is especially notable about this is that many
artists have bridged into printmaking from their respective art fields and made
wonderful prints like Helen Frankenthaler and Frank Stella. In this regard, Kunc helps advance the field and our colleagues on a par where prints are seen for the fantastic images they are, not being judged by elitist attitudes as a step-child to more 'serious' artistic endeavors.
Kunc’ painterly approach swings joyously to the other side of
the art/print pendulum where her work breaks away from the flat, grained look
of a traditional woodcut. There are references to landscape and what one would find living in Nebraska - the wide open ranges and amazing daily cumulus displays. But there is also an observance of Nature in its natural erosion and decay. Kunc' color selections don't necessarily call those natural observations to mind when we see her prints, but the formal elements are there. Still, she is able to do something pretty special with a
piece of wood and some carving tools.
Additionally, she brings vibrant color to
her work that is well above the register usually seen in this genre, and her
ambitiously layered cornucopian feast makes us forget the labored journey she
makes in creating these final images. Her production level is equally ambitious,
including her eloquent handmade books and mixed media work.
There is an organic quality to Kunc’s work, a joie de vivre.
Some of her visual kinships are seen with painters like Georgia O’Keefe’s
clouds, and the way Terry Winters shifts through his organic layers, but Kunc’
connections are more directly aligned to the late, great Elizabeth Murray. They
share a fascination with color and surface, and if Kunc chose to work in 3D then
their symbiotic sisterhood would be complete.
Here
is an artist working at peak form, and it is certain students able to study and
work with Kunc will only gain from the experience. Side note*I remember seeing Kunc
years ago at one of the Drake Printmaking Symposium workshops in Des Moines.
She came in and while she was getting prepped to work, she opened up this incredible,
beautifully crafted case filled with custom made brayers from Europe. People’s
jaws just dropped in awe. The tools’ craftsmanship was exquisite. While some
say it’s the tools that make an artist work on a higher level, we all know that
isn’t always true, but who among us wouldn’t love to have access to exceptional
tools and paper with which to make our work?
Kunc surely knows her craft and makes extraordinary prints.
Our excitement is partly in anticipation of what she will next create, for the delight
of seeing her work is like a savoring a fine dessert, or a bottle of Merlot.
The work sings on different levels of satiation, and we are blessed to sample
the abundance she shares with us.
For more information about Kunc' work, go visit www.karen-kunc.com/ and see an excerpt from her own statement about her work below.
“My work as an artist/printmaker addresses issues of the landscape and our natural surroundings as direct influences from my Nebraska heritage, my daily experiences and viewpoints in the landscape of the plains and from extensive travel, and as artistic interpretation and contemplation on larger issues of the eternal life struggle, of endurance and vulnerability, growth and destruction.
I am interested in the span of time it takes to wear away a canyon, build a mountain, the erosion forces that continually wash onto the plains, forming the earth, and, ultimately, shaping our world... from nature and science, spiritual and religious thought, art historical and modern icons, immigration narratives and native myths.”
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