Karen Schulz: FRAGILE STRENGTH fiber & mixed media works

Springboard Gallery
5125 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh PA 15224
May 6 – June 24, 2022
call for appointments 412 855 6901 or 412 855 7352
www.karen-schulz.com
instagram @schulz1376
karenschulz@rcn.com
SPRINGBOARD DESIGN
www.springboarddesign.net

Springboard Gallery presents Fragile Strength, an exhibition of Karen Schulz’ recent work that delves into various dye applications on fiber.

Using the properties of thickened Procion MX dyes, which are absorbed by the cotton fibers versus acrylic paints, which lay and remain on top of the cotton surface, Schulz manipulates these characteristics into compositions of fragile figures and solid grounds. Drawn to the tension that these and other opposites create, she explains “Circles and squares, stasis and movement, light and dark, the flat plane and three-dimensional space, and most recently the drawn versus sewn seam lines, all are needed to highlight each other.”

Schulz’ work also excels in incorporating delightful repetitions of shapes. She engages us with recurrent stacks of “bricks,” but the piles are so cautiously balanced and delicately outlined as if to say: not heavy, but frail, not sturdy, might fall. These configurations encompass some of the most beautiful architecture in her work.

Born, raised, and educated in the northeast United States, Schulz has resided in the Washington, DC area for the last forty-seven years. For the past fifteen years, she has pursued her art seriously and full time while studying with notable artists in the fiber field. Schulz has won numerous accolades for her work, such as Best in Show at Quilt National 2015 and 2019, and Best in Show at the Quilts=Art=Quilts exhibition of 2018. Her work is in private, corporate and museum collections.