Karen Thompson

Born of a Scandinavian mother and American father it would seem from the very start that ****** **** was a woman destined to embrace diversity. Her work today reflects not only her beginnings, but also the diverse experiences she traversed through adulthood and is often characterized by its ability to integrate the senses and expose our emotions to the hidden beauty around us. ****** produces work which at times is powerful and raw, and at others evocative and edgy, in both its composition and symbolism. Yet this is unsurprising considering ****** was a girl raised in the company of her artist grandfather, who was, and will always remain, her greatest inspiration. ****** recalls that from the age of five she would sit for hours at the feet of her grandfather quietly watching him paint, and it was here that she began to appreciate the significance of silence. When they ate dinner together her grandfather would not speak a word and ****** would mirror him remaining mute throughout the meal. His comfortable silence is still at the core of all the work ****** creates. Silence without stillness being ever present in her art. ****** remained inseparable from her grandfather until his passing, yet the lessons learned from him do not fade but consistently maintain their intensity. Being raised in Scandinavia with her spartan spirited mother, who steadfastly refused to stifle her child’s creativity, inquisitiveness, and exceptional imagination, ****** developed into a Renaissance woman through self-awareness and a deep interest in the human psyche. These traits blossomed when, at the age of 17, she went to live in New York with her father and consequently was exposed to the myriad art forms which the city attracts and encourages. Later, after moving back to Scandinavia, an initial interest in make-up artistry and body painting rapidly inspired her to produce art focusing exclusively on women. ****** was driven to reflect, in tangible forms, the emotions and life-journeys of those around her and particularly women who had undergone extraordinary, and sometimes harrowing, experiences. Yet ****** still felt constricted by formal mediums and her avant-garde spiritual self sought inspiration through study of an eclectic mix of classical and contemporary creative arts. Ultimately she found expression, not only through opera and ballet, but also the written word. This resulted in a creative adventure which included the conception of poetry either inspired by individual artistic compositions, or conversely poems which influenced the formation of her art. Since moving to Marbella, Spain, ****** has been working on several important exhibitions: ******’s, ‘Gold Mask’ exhibition exemplifies her vision and insight as she presents a series of molded masks which reflect the preserved experiences of women throughout time. Their mummified emotions represent ******’s empathy for the many real, sad, and horrific, yet ultimately inspiring, stories. ******’s deepest desire was for these great women never to be forgotten and to be given a voice through the Gold Mask Collection. Her study, ‘Plastic Women,’ is an exploration into self-inflicted narcissism induced under the influence of a society which increasingly distorts the true meaning of natural feminine beauty.