Feel the Color!
Paintings by Karin Neuwirth
Opening Reception: Friday, October 12th
From 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Exhibition on display in the Nicholson Gallery from October 1st – 31st.
Visual artist Karin Neuvirth is best known for her textural acrylic paintings of wooded landscapes which she refers to as “treescapes.” Her current style of painting involves many layers of paint which she applies with a palette knife, using broken color to create a sense of movement within her work. Color is the most prominent element in her work. In order to form a more thorough understanding of color, she chooses to mix all of the colors that she uses from only the primary colors and white. Karin grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota where the winters were always difficult for her. The cold grey days took a toll on her mood, but as she developed her style of painting, she found that the vibrant colors helped her to combat the melancholy that the weather caused her. Color has always been the focus of Karin’s work, but when she moved to Durham, North Carolina in 2011, she began to work with a palette knife and developed her current style of textural acrylic paintings.
“One Winter back in Minnesota we did not see the sun for more then 40 days. Nothing but grey and cold from dawn to dusk day after day! If you’re like me, just the thought of that dreary climate might make you want to crawl under the covers and hibernate until spring. Life goes on however, and hibernation not being a viable option, I began to use my art to compensate for the lack of natural light and color out my window. I found that the vibrant color combinations could evoke emotions similar to those that I felt on summer walk through the woods. I’m not in Minnesota any longer. I’m in North Carolina enjoying short mild winters and wonderfully long summers, but those long cold winters will never be forgotten. I know that colors impact our emotions. The vibrant color combinations I use in my work are meant to be uplifting and inspirational. I paint with a palette knife to create textural, energetic, and impressionistic paintings that speak to my own spontaneous yet restless nature. Because of my passion for the outdoors, most of my subjects depict outdoor scenes of some sort with exaggerated colors to increase the emotional impact.”