Karen Kunc
"Kunc's richly colored, textured prints may be read as terrain, abstracted design, and visual idea. Her selected worlds are at once intimate and monumental, with passages that might be infinitesimal or Landsat distant. They also suggest forces in motion – plants striving above and below the earth, light and air moving on water. A recurring concern is the land, often inspired by Kunc's native Nebraska in the heart of the Great Plains.
"There is something conceptual in approach to her subjects – a kind of 360 degree thinking that begins with personal vision and reaches out into the world with an informed sense of wonder. Kunc is an artist who conveys something meaningful and compelling through her work."
Katherine Blood, Curator of Prints and Works on Paper, The Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
"During my thirty years as a curator, I have thought a good deal about what makes a work of art great. The conclusion I have come to is that a great work of art sustains one’s interest after many viewings. Its impact might be immediate, but successive viewings reward you with new insights, subtleties, and appreciation. Karen Kunc’s prints meet my primary criterion for great works of art.
"... Her prints have the quality and staying power that will allow them to withstand the whims of fashion and market pressures, and be recognized by future generations as the best her generation of artists has created."
Joann Moser, Curator of Prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
"Kunc understands the territory that is the surface of a print. She can take a sheet of paper and make it live."
David Storey, Prix de Print No. 12: Oscillation Shift by Karen Kunc, Art in Print, Volume 5, Number 2
Photograph by David Dale
Exhibitions
Solo exhibition: Braided River: Prints & Artist Books
Lied Art Gallery, Creighton University
Omaha, NE
January 25 - March 2, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, January 24, 4-6pm
6th Egypt International Print Triennial, invited artist
Palace of Arts, Cairo Opera House
Cairo, Egypt
April 15 - TBD, 2025
Upcoming presentations
Workshops at Constellation Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska:
Mokuhanga: Japanese Waterbase Woodblock printmaking, with Karen Kunc
April 12-13, Saturday & Sunday, 10am-4pm
Color Woodcut Printmaking with Karen Kunc
June 9 - 13, Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm
Other Workshops:
From Block to Book: Woodcut Artists Books
Grand Marais Art Colony
Grand Marais, Minnesota
July 30 - August 2, 2025
https://grandmaraisartcolony.org/education/
The Hybrid Woodcut Print
Anderson Ranch Arts Center
Snowmass Village, Colorado
September 9 - 19, 2025
https://www.andersonranch.org/workshops/?c[]=printmaking&pn=1
Announcements
• Listen to podcast interview on Platemark with Ann Shafer, May, 2024
https://www.platemarkpodcast.com/s3e57-karen-kunc/
• Follow developments for Constellation Studios at:
http://www.nebraskaartists.org/movies/video12_2_1_b_Kunc.html
http://www.nebraskaartists.org/movies/video12_2_1_c_Kunc.html
• Listen to Lincoln Calling Interview on YouTube. July 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Gn6NDgiYs&list=PLNw9UOhz8c0NVj7EYjbpcQCIK38mjdXA9&index=4
• Zoom presentation & Q&A, Soeffker Gallery, Hamline University, 2021 (Video is on the gallery home page)
https://www.soeffkergallery.com/
• Zoom presentation & Q&A, California Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA, 2021
https://www.3cmediasolutions.org/privid/334833?key=29c6e0cc890c39422dc134104c0aed290ef98946
• Interview with Karen Kunc, University of Nis, Serbia, Student online organization, August 20, 2020,
https://www.facebook.com/155287937953802/posts/1756970554452191/?app=fbl
• Mary Jane Bruce, UNL Nebraska Today, Faculty 101 Podcast, September 7, 2018
• Presentation, online webinar, Make One, Take One: Exchange Portfolios, on Fragment Encounters, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, NY, 2021
http://www.rochestercontemporary.org/exhibitions/make-one-take-one/
• “As the World Turns” Artist’s Books Unshelved, from the Cynthia Sears Artist’s Books Collection, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf1RzrJ3gBo&list=PLHwzS6Uhxef6LYVrKCrZ9FYriOI8fixYU&index=1
• "Constellation Studios: Karen Kunc’s ‘Release/Reveal’," Lincoln Journal Star L Magazine, October 23, 2021
