In Karen JS Tashjian’s exhibition, she uses the heart of Buffalo (technology, manufacturing, and agriculture) as her inspiration force. She is drawn to utility structures and animals highlighting their beauty without the need of ornamentation. The juxtaposition between abandon building structures and large animals examines the bounds between rural and urban sensitivities in our country.
The exhibition represents her most recent work, thinking and process. As a classically trained architect, Karen approaches her artistic work with an unparallel precision in the un-self-conscious organization of parts, the rich surfaces, the space, the color palette, patterns, and the use of palette knives.
Her process implies an unfurling, growth, an evolution. It suggests the act of making, actively exploring, experimenting, and pushing the limits of her work. It implies an openness to discovery. Each piece opens a new vantage point or insight to Tashjian’s unique style. Layers of paint add texture to the ongoing story, allowing it to be discovered and live once again in physical space. She immerses herself, rubbing and layering color to find the storied patina through process itself.
She often works in large scale. She is interested in space and experience. Large paintings are more experiential as they exist at a human scale and though flat, are immersive. The central focus of the work is the experience brought and felt during the process rather than the image itself.
Born in Boston, MA and raised the greater New York City area, Karen JS Tashjian has become a woman of multiple facets. She is an accomplished artist, professor, and an architect. She received her Bachelor Science degree in Design, Fine Arts and Architecture Architectrue and her Bachelor dree in Architecture in Cornell University, New York. She designed sets for Shakespeare in Delaware Park, the D’ellArte Opera Ensemble, and the Department of Creative Arts in Siena College. Academically she has served as an Assistant Clinical Professor or Visiting Critic at the University of Buffalo, School of Architecture. As an architect, Karen JS Tahjian was part of the HOLT architecture firm and more recently she is the Owner of Principal, an architecture design firm in Western New York. Her artwork has been exhibited in numerous art exhibitions including the Castellani Museum, ECHO art fair, Buffalo Society of Artists, Burchfield-Penney Art Center to mention few.
