Karen Christie Fisher

Karen Christie Fisher is an abstract painter using the language of color and texture to explore the landscape of emotion. She is currently working in acrylic paint on wood panel, utilizing a variety of acrylic mediums and conventional and unconventional tools to explore texture and mark. Color is her favorite tool.

Karen is influenced and inspired by her love of modern design, which began while growing up in New York City and further developed during her four years studying at Oregon College of Art and Craft. She now lives in the foothills of Mt. Hood, Oregon.

Prior to committing to painting full time, she spent 14 years as the designer and fabricator of nine display units in the main lobby of the Portland International Airport. Interior design continues to excite her and she is often reflecting on the spaces her paintings will inhabit while creating them.

Artist Statement:

Have you ever felt the thick, heavy, opacity of grief? What about a bright, shiny layer of joy? Painting is the language I use to process and understand the raw physical and emotional experiences I feel and observe.

Color and texture have always impacted me in a physical way. Through my work, I seek to connect with my viewer on this visceral level.

Exploration and manipulation of materials challenges my instincts for control of my inner landscape. My process begins with building the panels I paint on. My background in fine craft - ceramics, metalsmithing, and woodworking, continues to influence me. The materiality of building objects is satisfied in this step.

The painting involves a lot of time on my palette with colors and mediums. I continue by responding to and tempering the colors and textures as they build. I use a variety of tools to apply paint and often paint with my hands. This tactile exploration appeals to my senses and is often cathartic.

I have a fascination with the residue of my painting practice. I collect jars of palette scrapings and boxes of paint-stained rags. This is the record of my time in the studio and I hoard the remains like treasure. It is the messy evidence of what really happens in the studio, counter to the cleaned-up version, the paintings, I present to the world.