Day, Karen – FRANK Gallery

Karen Nathan Day

ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings begin as a conversation with my materials—acrylic, conte, and graphite—layered and textured on the canvas or panel. I start with gestural marks and spontaneous drawing, letting intuition guide the way. Some areas build up over time, while others are left raw, preserving the contrast between presence and absence, form and formlessness.

Lately, what emerges from this process feels like lyrical landscapes—otherworldly spaces that exist somewhere between the seen and the felt. I never begin with a fixed image in mind. Instead, I follow the rhythm of each painting, letting emotion and inner atmosphere shape the evolving forms. I return to the canvas over time, reworking shapes and color relationships until a kind of harmony or tension reveals itself.

There is something mysterious at the core of this practice—an impulse I can’t quite name, but feel deeply. Each piece carries traces of that interior world, giving form to something both ancient and invented. The process is spiny, unpredictable, and alive. As da Vinci said, “A work of art is never finished, only abandoned.” I’ve learned to trust that moment when the image tells me it’s time to let go.My process is the collaboration I have with my materials-acrylic, Conté, and graphite –

applied to the canvas in multiple layers. When starting a canvas with a textured surface, I initially draw loose forms, gestures, and spontaneous marks followed by multiple layers, with traces from each layout often visible when the piece is finished. I like to play with the negative spaces, creating a luminous dimension between the shapes. This positive/negative balance allows the colors, lines, and forms to interact organically. This conversation with my canvases has a beginning and an end, but everything in between is spontaneous. I prefer to allow intuitive inspiration to take the lead. I leave and return to each canvas as it develops, with every session following this same approach – reworking the shapes and colors, leading to more complex layers. I begin to see how the parts affect the whole, eventually arriving at an endpoint, which often is the subject of my own internal debate. As DaVinci said, “A work of art is never finished, merely abandoned.”

ARTIST BIO

As a young girl, I used to watch my mother in her studio late at night. This is where my interest in art began. Following high school, I attended classes in painting, drawing, and sculpture at the New School in Manhattan prior to applying to the Cleveland Institute of Art. I received my BFA as a drawing major with a minor in sculpture in 1979.

I worked as a freelance illustrator for The Washington Post in the eighties. In 1992, I began three decades as an art educator at the Art League School of Alexandria, teaching students of all ages. My most rewarding experiences came from working with teens, who proved to be the most motivated and talented group, as many of them navigated their way toward their goal of attending an art institution.

During these years, I submitted my works for faculty exhibitions at the Art League’s Torpedo Factory Gallery as well as the Mattawoman Creek Art Center in Southern Maryland near my former home. My move to Durham has allowed me to return to the studio, fully focused on creating a new body of work. I am a member of the Durham Arts Guild and a member artist at the FRANK Gallery in Carrboro, NC.

Karen lives in Durham with her husband, Jim, and their two dogs, Arlo and Jackson. She has two grown children and four grandchildren.