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

Pressing for Change

Center for Visual Arts, Metro State University

Denver, CO

January 5 - March 23, 2024

 

CODEX IX: International Biennial Book Art Fair

HJK Convention Center

Oakland, CA

February 4 - 7, 2024

 

Presence/Absence: International Print and Artist's Books Exhibition

Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw

Wroclaw, Poland

March, 2024

 

Upcoming presentations

Workshops at Constellation Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska:

Waterbase Block Printing: Mokuhanga

March 22 -24, 2024

 

From Block to Book: Color Woodcut Printmaking for an Artist Book

July 15 - 19, 2024

www.constellation-studios.net

Other Workshops:

Push & Pull:  Illusion from the Woodblock

Penland School of Craft

Penland, NC

June 2 - 14, 2024

https://penland.org/workshops/printmaking-letterpress/

 

Visiting Artist, Metro State University

Denver, CO

Demo time TBD

Gallery Talk, February 21, 5:30 - 6:30

 

Announcements

•  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

https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/faculty-101-podcast-explores-nature-of-art-art-of-nature/

•  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

https://journalstar.com/niche/l-magazine/features/at-constellation-studios-karen-kuncs-release-reveal/article_edd8c434-6609-530a-bb50-4762c7e01b1b.html