The experiences of daily life are so often challenging, difficult to understand or just plain tedious, but they are also occasionally glorious. Color is a mechanism of infinite subtlety with which to capture this essence. All of nature is alternatively destined either for destruction or for a dance, and I want to catch a moment in that process.

Layering texture and paint to create a hue never seen before is one of the games I play with my art. Line becomes an extension of my experience, creating a pathway, enclosing a moment of regret or releasing a celebration into its own element. I use line to restate the substance, and then hide the result to play a game with history. In this way, the intersection of pain and privilege allows art making to become a symbol of redemption.

After a childhood with many homes both in the U. S. and abroad, my young adulthood was also filled with variety, stretching from a hobby farm in Iowa to teaching English in Japan, from elected office in Iowa to intercultural consulting in California. A lifetime so varied has enabled me to see life from multiple perspectives, and to revel each day in the opportunity of communicating with paint on canvas.

Collectors say that each day brings a new insight as they live with my work.

AWARDS

People's Choice, SCVWS 2003

Best of Watercolor, AVARTFEST 2004

Third Place, ART 21 Juried Exhibit 2004

Honorable Mention, LGAA Juried Open 2005

Honorable Mention, Arts Alive Juried 2005

Award of Merit, AVARTFEST, Triton Museum 2005

Best of Show, SCVWS 2005

ABSTRACT7 Exhibits
San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2016
Olive Hyde Gallery, Fremont, CA 2016

Graniterock, Cupertino, CA 2015

Firehouse Arts, Harrington Gallery, Pleasanton, CA 2015

Thoreau Center, San Francisco, 2014

San Francisco Open Studios, October, 2013, 2014

Presentation Center, Los Gatos, July-November, 2013

SOLO SHOWS

Border's Books, Los Gatos 2003

Palace Cafe, Sunnyvale, 2005, 2006

Open Studios 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

Arts Alive Cruz Cafe 2005

Lady Circuit, Sunnyvale 2006, 2007

Harvest Plaza, Morgan Hill 2006

Los Altos Library 2007

Avalon Art and Yoga Center, Palo Alto 2006, 2009

Lift Fitness, Mountain View 2008

Becton Dickinson, 2010

Sunnyvale Art Gallery, 2010 (“Journeys”, a Trio of Artists)

The Presentation Center, 2011

MPPC, 2012

A Touch of Grace, PBCC, Cupertino, CA  2016
Transformations, Los Altos Hills Townhall, Los Altos Hills, CA  2016 

JURIED GROUP SHOWS

ART21 Western States Juried 2004

LGAA Juried Open 2003, 2005

Arts Alive Juried Open 2005

Pacific Art League 2010

klwong43@gmail.com

www.karenwongart.com

www.themeaningcode.com

650-906-3802