Karen Hardy
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Bio: Karen Hardy is a book artist and printmaker based in Asheville NC. Her practice is centered on an experimental approach to materials and process, with a focus on using innovative papermaking techniques and a variety of nontraditional materials. Widely exhibited across the country and abroad, her artists’ books have received numerous awards and are held in national and international collections. Hardy received an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and she teaches classes in book arts at universities and art centers throughout the country.
Statement: Curiosity about materials is my primary motivation as an artist. My creative process involves experimentation with the expressive properties of materials and the associations that they carry. My artists’ books often begin with paper that I make by hand, and their meaning is inseparable from their physical materials. I give this degree of attention to the tactile qualities of the books I make in part because I feel that the ability to include the haptic realm is much of what makes the book unique as a form of art. Books are generally meant to be held in the hands, and therefore the size and weight of the object, the way it moves when manipulated, and the texture of its materials are all just as important to the experience as any visual attributes.
I am fascinated by biological forms and systems. Consciously or not, my selection and treatment of materials often yield work that is vaguely evocative of living organisms and bodily processes. I am especially drawn to paper pulp made from overbeaten abaca and to flax for its organic, corporeal effect. This material layers and interacts with light in compelling ways, capable of being beautifully luminous and uncomfortably grotesque at once. Its translucent, membrane-like quality suggests a liminal state between interior and exterior, private and public, protected and vulnerable. To create further dialogue with these features, I often combine handmade paper with other natural and manufactured materials, such as leather, metal, and hair.
Statement: Curiosity about materials is my primary motivation as an artist. My creative process involves experimentation with the expressive properties of materials and the associations that they carry. My artists’ books often begin with paper that I make by hand, and their meaning is inseparable from their physical materials. I give this degree of attention to the tactile qualities of the books I make in part because I feel that the ability to include the haptic realm is much of what makes the book unique as a form of art. Books are generally meant to be held in the hands, and therefore the size and weight of the object, the way it moves when manipulated, and the texture of its materials are all just as important to the experience as any visual attributes.
I am fascinated by biological forms and systems. Consciously or not, my selection and treatment of materials often yield work that is vaguely evocative of living organisms and bodily processes. I am especially drawn to paper pulp made from overbeaten abaca and to flax for its organic, corporeal effect. This material layers and interacts with light in compelling ways, capable of being beautifully luminous and uncomfortably grotesque at once. Its translucent, membrane-like quality suggests a liminal state between interior and exterior, private and public, protected and vulnerable. To create further dialogue with these features, I often combine handmade paper with other natural and manufactured materials, such as leather, metal, and hair.