statement

In Karen Chu’s recent work, she explores the interaction between subject matter, color, form and texture.  Like pieces in a puzzle, scattered images are scavenged and found, and brought together to form a larger narrative.  These found images are the foundation for Chu’s mixed media collages, paintings and sculptures.  For her collages on panel, the sculpted components often mimic the forms and textures depicted in the found images.  A pile of gold coins turns into an overlapping scale-like armor of gray sculpey “coins.”  Other times, the sculpted forms are derived from the oceanic themes found in Ernst Haeckel’s Art Forms in Nature.  These shapes transcend the panel and transform into organic ceramic sculptures reminiscent of coral reef structures.  Chu weaves between mediums, returning to her collages as inspiration for her paintings on linen.  The paintings are direct translations of her collages, with the raw linen and wood grain providing natural backgrounds for the images to float and hover over.  The organically fused and juxtaposed elements in Chu’s collages, paintings, and sculptures balance and riff off of each other to create a conversation within each piece.