Beauty and joy are fundamental to the human experience. They are critical elements that affect our physical health, emotional well-being, and social connections according to an article by Gregg Levoy in Psychology Today. Beauty can actually reduce heart rates, reduce cortisol levels, and lower anxiety levels. He says that beauty gives your psyche and nervous system a break from exposure to the world’s ugliness. Abraham Maslow placed aesthetics high on his hierarchy of needs. Looking at beauty releases the same feel-good chemicals in the brain as being in love, eating chocolate, and exercising.
In these extremely turbulent times, I believe that beauty and joy are even more essential to counteract the ugliness that is so rampant. “Given the imperfect nature of the world and the frequently unsightly behavior of those who live in it, the appreciation of beauty is a salve, a coping mechanism, a balancing act, reminding you that the world may be awful, but it’s also beautiful. You have the choice where to direct your gaze, of course, but the ability to hold the paradox that both exist, simultaneously, is a skill that can help you maintain balance when life goes off-kilter.” Gregg Levoy
In a quest for beauty this past week, I discovered art that really touched me deeply. The artist is Karen Russo. With her permission, I am sharing a little of her magic here.
From her website: https://www.karenrusso.studio/about
Karen Russo is a figurative ceramic sculptor who lives and works in the lush green foothills of western Oregon. She chooses clay as her primary medium because of its malleability, capacity for transformation, and direct connection to the earth.
Over the years, Karen has developed and honed a unique method of layering materials, textures, and color that lends her work a rich, organic quality. Beginning with a solid block of clay, she hand builds each sculpture. It is then cut into many sections, hollowed, compressed, and reassembled. At this stage, Karen carves her signature patterns and textures into the clay before it goes into a slow bisque fire that can last up to a week. She paints with underglazes, casein, acrylic, or a combination thereof to lay imagery onto the multifaceted surface of each sculpted figure. Her color palettes echo the places that inspire her, from the ocean to the forest, and the desert to the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
The resulting sculptures depict women that seem to originate from diverse geographical origins, but all of which explore the tensions of the feminine experience: strength and contemplation, youth and aging, love and grief, instability and equilibrium, hope and despair. Through these maternal archetypes, so evocative of the precious earth from which they were formed, Karen hopes to express an eternal optimism for the human spirit in this beautiful and turbulent world.
“I tell visual stories through carving and painting. My art is the observation of and interaction with an ever changing landscape, a collaboration with the feminine and nature. In my recent collection Salt of the Earth, each sculpture evolves intuitively, unfolding from mounds of clay. In a subtractive, additive, and highly physical dance, I carve, manipulate and define the clay form until it settles into shape. The figure emerges from, or is one with her landscape.
An important aspect of my creative process is time spent outdoors. I look for texture, pattern and color found in nature: rock formations, fossils and shells, seed pods, plant forms and flowers… all around me is infinite inspiration, possibilities and wonder. Back in the studio, I carve the sculpted clay surface with designs inspired by the images I have gathered.”
Karen Russo received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of California Santa Cruz in 1982. In 1986 she entered the University of Oregon’s MFA Program mentored by Paul Buckner, with a concentration in Figure Sculpture. She has since furthered her studies with renowned sculptors Beth Cavener, Adrian Arleo, Alessandro Gallo, and Tip Toland. Karen has exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest. Her work is part of the Art About Agriculture permanent collection at Oregon State University. She has also co-created several public art installations in Oregon. Karen Russo is represented by the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. www.riverseagallery.com
I have included a few of my favorites here, but please, check out her website www.karenrusso.studio. Let her know how her work affects you. It is important to not only enjoy the beauty but celebrate the woman who is the creator. We need to support each other. The wonder of her work is here for us to savor. I don’t know about you, but I sure need some beauty and joy in my life. Thank you Karen!
