Start Here
Spirit
WOW
Voices
Boomers
Language
Lucky Vet
Americana
What Exit?
Borderland
Earth Tones
Grace Notes

Related Links:
Gurumayi
Meditation Revolution
Joseph Beuys
Vasilii Kandinskii

Questioning Duality - Interview with Karen Ciaramella
August 31, 2007   (Page 2)

Bill: Karen, let's discuss another piece, and again, thanks for taking this time from your 'Type A' schedule, what with prep for teaching, grants and proposals taking up so much of your 'bandwidth' lately. What do you want to discuss next?
Karen: Well, I think 'Shiva Lingam' because it ties into the first piece.
(Image below; click here to see the full-sized image):


K: Again, there's content given here because of what it's made of. It's wool, and the object that's hidden inside the wool is a propane tank. So, then, given that information, you know, what might you think it might mean?
B: Um, well, of course the propane tank can produce heat to help nurture a family, like a hearth, but of course, it's also combustible and dangerous.
K: Yeah. It's actually a common tool  used by terrorists to blow things up. So, yeah, it's the Sunday barbecue, the Sunday barbecue and all kinds of good feelings! And at the same time, it can be the destroyer. And, ah...
B: Oh, Shiva, sure, right.
K: Yeah, the dance of fire, the ring of fire, the destruction of ignorance.
B: Yeah, right. And I confess that I know what 'Lingam' means from my lonely undergraduate years at Rutgers, where I read the Kama Sutra. Frankly all that I remember from it now is 'yoni' and 'lingam', and something about 'shampoo' as a prelude to seduction. The Lingam is a phallic symbol, right?
K: Yes, it is a phallic symbol, and it is often depicted as sitting on a yoni, its female counterpart. The Lingam in some traditions is revered, and worshipped as the formless aspect of Shiva.
B: OK, OK, very good.
K: That pretty much sums up this piece.
B: So, if I could, you know, it seems, from discussing this piece, that the more educated the person is, the more they'll 'get it' and enjoy it? That's kinda what it is, right?
K: Well, I don't think it has to do with 'education', per se, more just being interested to learn, so essentially anyone with interest in an area can understand.
B: OK
K: People who are familiar with a lot of yogic principles do get it, because they know the codes, as with any kind of art. When we're not exposed to something, and we don't know something, then we can't understand it, it's like getting a book that's written in Chinese. You can't read it, so you can't understand it.
B: I think that's one reason that the Joseph Campbell's interviews, with Bill Moyers, have always been such a big hit.
K: Absolutely.
B: Karen, you know, now that I think about it a little, I feel that I do want to press this area just a bit more, as it brings up a question I always have about 'accessibility' of art to the average Joe or Jane Beercan. What's your opinion on the conflict between adequate, heartfelt, useful expression, and making the 'message', if there is one, understandable? I mean, I'm sure there's a continuum stretching between two extremes of total and zero accessibility of a piece, and a particular work must by definition always fall somewhere along that continuum, on a person-to-person basis. What are your thoughts?
K: Well, I think that it is important for an artist to develop their own language. This has been especially true (in Western Art) since Modernism and continues forward with every contemporary art movement today. Many people don't understand Minimalist work (or Cubist, Futurist, and others) but that does not make the art inaccessible. One may need to understand the artist's "language" to read the art. This, of course, brings up the age old question, "What is art?" The answer will always be subjective. This refers back to my opinion on viewing art: You either have a visceral reaction and decide that the art is "good" or "bad", or you see a work that is intriguing, that you don't understand, but you want to further explore its meaning. I personally believe that great art can not be understood in one viewing; It continues to reveal its beauty and mystique over time.
B: Very good. Moving right along, this next one is called 'Centered'; click here to see the full-sized image.
K: So what do you think it is?


B: It looks like a leaf of a plant, spearmint maybe; it also looks like an arrowhead. And then you've got that, um, stuff coming out of it, as if it were leaking. I dunno. That's my reaction to it.
K: Yeah, well, that's good because your reaction is largely "it's organic".
B: OK
K: And other peoples' perceptions have been, 'vaginal', and 'a birthing process', and 'associated with the bifurcation of the brain', even though the top of it comes to a point. When you're experiencing it close up, in real life, just because of the knotted character of the work, you get an impression that it looks like a brain, which is I think why I got that reaction, but I'm gratified to see that I've gotten all organic responses, which is perfect.
B: Well, did you have a particular purpose in mind with this. Why did you make it pointed? Were you trying to convey a specific association?
K: No, to be quite honest with you, I just did a series of sketches (and I almost NEVER work from a sketch. I sketch ALL of the time, I have loads of sketchbooks---still, I almost never go from sketch to work). My work just grows organically as I'm working on it.
B: So it's like a feedback loop?
K: Pretty much. Having said that, this piece, this one piece I did produce from sketch. But when I'm making the sketches I never think 'Oh, I want to represent X', I just, I'm drawing---it just develops.
B: I can relate to that.
K: So, the reason I titled it 'Centered' and chose this one to create was because it's not centered; it's deliberately off-center.
B: Oh! I didn't notice it from the photo
K: Yup, it's much more apparent in person. The knots extend off the canvas, and there's negative space on the right side as you view it, and so it's a play on one's state of being centered---or not, and I do think it can be an unraveling of the mind or a birthing, a birthing or a rebirth.
B: Thanks for that. On a separate thread, so to speak: Do you get stressed out when you're doing this stuff, or...
K: No, it's super-meditative.
B: You do it in a careful, loving, meticulous way?
K: Yeah
B: Well, I guess maybe if you had deadlines, then that would be a different story, then, right?
K: Even then, though, the actual process, this particular process, because I'm manipulating the wool in lots of different ways, [is not stressful]. I weave the object in with small, pointy needles, felting needles..
B: Quilting?
K: No, felting, it's about this big [shows size], and has tiny barbs on the end of it, four-to-six of them. That's one of the ways I manipulate the wool. There's glue forms, too. In a new series I'm actually hardening the wool, and it's random what happens after I pull it up and I hang it; I just allow the wool to create its own form. And then, there's the hand knotting, and all of it is very..
B: Meditative
K: Definitely. Definitely.
B: So, what's in store for you next? You said you were working on some proposals?
K: Yes, there is a show coming up, and the deadline for the proposal I'm working on is October 15, which is for a venue called 'Exit Art', which is a not-for-profit. I'm going after all not-for-profits right now because they don't ask for money when you enter the show.
B: You mean you have to pay? Oh, this just shows how ignorant I am about this scene.
K: Oh yes, 35, 40 dollars to submit three slides, and then the gallery or whatever will take 50 per cent of the sale if your work sells.
B: OK, I forgot the sales aspect of it.
K: The not-for-profits don't do any of that. They're not interested in that.
B: And the show coming up in Jersey City, is called ...?
K: The Nature of Duality. I'm super excited for this show. It fully embodies my philosophy. It will be invigorating to work collaboratively with like minded artists!
B: And how did you come upon that?
K: I have a whole bank of artists opportunities. I have been searching pretty diligently for the past year for possibilities to show, and really, they're welcome to anything that fits, anything of mine that fits. Just as I finished school, a number of things came up. The one at Exit Art that is coming up is titled 'Brain', and so what I'm proposing is to create a 6 by 6 foot room, covered in knots. The participant would enter the room, and sit on the floor. There wouldn't be any other place to sit. So they would be in this space, and there would be some sort of timer, so that the person is requested to sit within for one minute, and to witness their mind. The participant would then be requested to record their report, in written or spoken form. So, we'll see how it goes.
B: Well, good luck, and we'll look forward to seeing your next installation.
K: Thanks.

There are more photos of Karen's work on the next page, all full-sized, with minimal description.