KAREN NIELSEN LICHER
Earth Paintings
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Textural paintings created from raw earth combined with traditional painting mediums.
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The light reflectivity of these works provide a lively surface:
the earthen, textured areas absorb more light than the glazed canvas areas.
The color of these works is informed by the tones of the earth used in the painting:
Each location where the earth was collected imparts its own character to the work.
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Incarnation of the Feminine Force
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Earth (from Chama riverbed, New Mexico) and mixed media on canvas
132" x 54" x 3 1/2 "
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This painting surprised me with its completeness, right at its inception. I had been looking through a book of images of Goddesses the night before starting the painting. The next day, with no expectations at all, I threw the paint and an entire bucket of earth onto the canvas thinking that I was creating a background texture for a work that I judged might take me an entire year, given of the size of the canvas and my usual meticulous working methods. I moved the loose earth into the wet paint with sweeping gestures of my hands, until all the paint had settled. The canvas had acted like a drum, magnifying the roar of the earth and gravel moving swiftly on its surface. When the great noise of the painting process itself had become quiet, I was stunned to see that my unconscious had released it's own interpretation of an image of Kali that I had admired in the book the night before! The image featured a representation of a tigress in the act of saving her young cubs by attacking a predator.
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Like a Dragon In a China Shop
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Earth from the Eastern Sierras and mixed media on canvas over panel.
96" x 33"
An Elaborate Method
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Earth from the Eastern Sierras, California, mixed media on canvas over panel
96" x 33"
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Life Without Constraint
Earth from the Eastern Sierras, California, mixed media on canvas over panel
96" x 33"
Zero Gravity
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Earth from the Eastern Sierras, California, mixed media on canvas over panel
60" x 44"
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The Way
Earth from the Eastern Sierras, California, mixed media on canvas over panel,
60" x 44"
A Wyld Place
Earth from the Eastern Sierras, California, mixed media on canvas over panel,
20" x 23"