Atmosphere, seasons, emotions and time are themes that local artist Karen Henderson explores with her fiber wall pieces. Currently her work is on exhibit at the Central Vermont Medical Center's main lobby gallery. Ephemeral Landscapes: Woven Paintings by Karen Henderson features twenty three of her landscape inspired textile pieces.
Henderson creates the work using her hand-woven linen, silk, rayon or paper fabrics. After weaving, she then applies color through various textile dye processes (batik, stitch resist, dye painting, etc). Then she layers other fabrics for color effects, sometimes adding machine or hand-stitching for textural effects.
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oincidentally while this work has been on view, she has been working the past three months on a commission piece that will hang in another medical center -- all the way in Arizona. Karen says: "As I worked on this most recent piece, I gave a lot of thought to the many things people need to visit a medical center or a hospital for. Knowing from personal family experience, it can range from happy reasons to scary reasons...either planned, sudden or chronic...but for many visits/stays for care, they seem to share some aspect of hope…so that's what I decided to call this piece. And I hope it can uplift people, bring a sense of peace and calm to their reception area."The show at CVMC runs through Friday, April 1, 2011. Located at 130 Fisher Road, Berlin, VT, the show will be open to the public when the lobby area is open at CVMC, 6:30 am to 9pm daily. There is more information on Karen at her website, www.karenhendersonfiber.com
Images: Installation view of the exhibit at CVMC Hope, Commission created by Henderson for The Banner Ironwood Medical Center in Queen Creek, Arizona
