FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWTOWN, PA—Strips of quilted fabric, oil paint, beeswax, lace, and fragments of text layered on canvas and wallpaper form the twenty-two mixed media paintings in BodyQuilting, an exhibit by artist Kari Becker Souders. Currently on display at George School’s Walton Center Gallery, the exhibit will run until March 4, 2010. An exhibit reception will take place on Saturday, February 20, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery.
The works seek to draw an analogy between the process of quilting and the ways in which women may alter their own bodies. Most of the paintings contain multicolored strips of quilting, often arranged in vertical or horizontal patterns. Words such as “augmentations,” “plucking,” “lasers,” “peels,” “rhinoplasty,” “face lift,” and “filler” appear in many of the works, printed on sheets of transparent film. Kari explained, “We see our flesh as compartmentalized fragments that can be resurfaced, patched, and transformed into new canvases piece by piece. In essence, we are quilting our bodies with the evolving text of culture and the visual standards of desire.”
Through its focus on quilting, the exhibit also seeks to represent the creative traditions of women. “Quilting, a practical and meaningful aesthetic practice, has offered and still provides women with a chance to gather and communicate with each other,” Kari observed. Kari recycled antique quilts by using segments of them in her BodyQuilting compositions. She also hand-sewed original pieces of quilted fabric for the paintings.
Kari has created distinctive textures through her combination of materials. Thick, white curved shapes made with oil paint appear in areas of the paintings, while a coating of beeswax gives the quilted fabrics a rippled, shiny texture. “My paintings are intensely worked until the surface has crevices and areas that appear both destructive and regenerative,” noted Kari. “Beeswax symbolizes healing, and is applied in its natural, flesh-like color that gives the work layers of protective skin.”
Kari’s work has been exhibited in galleries and shows in Arnold, Maryland; Haverford, Pennsylvania; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Chicago, Illinios; Cleveland, Ohio; New Haven, Connecticut; Annapolis, Maryland; New York City; and elsewhere. The recipient of a Maryland Federation of Art Merit Award, an Artstravaganza Award from the Hunter Museum of American Art, and a residency fellowship from the Woodstock School of Art, Kari has a BFA from Syracuse University and an MFA from the University of Maryland.
BodyQuilting is one of seven exhibitions organized by the George School Arts Department during the 2009-10 year. The Arts Department offers classes in visual and performing arts, including photography, digital imaging, video production, woodworking and design, communication design, painting and drawing, ceramics, stagecraft, theater arts, theater performance, musical theater, dance, vocal and instrumental performance, and music theory, with Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate course options.
For more information about the arts at George School, and a complete schedule of exhibitions, visit http://www.georgeschool.org/arts.
About George School
Founded in 1893 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), George School, a rigorous coed boarding and day school for grades nine through twelve, educates students from twenty-one states, thirty-four foreign countries, and a variety of ethnic, racial, religious, and economic backgrounds. Through its commitment to diversity and the Quaker values of equality, integrity, and peacemaking, George School inspires students to be led by their own truths while respecting and appreciating opinions and beliefs different from their own. George School was one of the first schools in the United States to implement an International Baccalaureate diploma program. For information about admission, please call 215-579-6547 or visit http://www.georgeschool.org.
New New Narratives: Stories and Messages in contemporary Art (11/10/09- 12/10/09) at the Cade Center for Fine Arts Gallery Arnold, MD Juror: Peter Bruun, Artistic Director, Art on Purpose, Baltimore, MDArtists' Talk and Reception is on Thursday November 12 from 6-8 p.m.
Betsy Meyer Show Philadelphia Inquirer Review: "The verdicts are in" By Victoria Donohoe Philadelphia Inquirer Friday October 30, 2009 What a difference a judge makes. By that, I mean judges of art competitions, not necessarily judges seeking your vote Tuesday. Julien Robson, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' contemporary art curator, judged the Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibit at Main Line Art Center. It's the sixth annual juried show in a series very closely watched by ambitious artists. Robson, a Scot trained in London, came to the Academy in '08 from the Speed Museum in Louisville, Ky. One clue that venturesome artists once again have flocked to enter this display, enticed also by its unusual single prize of $1,000, is that artists of serious intent from as far away as the Hoboken artists' colony and Bethlehem are rubbing elbows here with fresh local talent. In fact, Karen Steen of Bethlehem won the show's only prize. The result is a show in which nearly everything on view is worthwhile. Nineteen artists are featured, each showing one to four works. The exhibit has a very "now" look about it.
October 16 – November 16, 2009 Opening reception will be held on First Friday, November 6, from 6 – 9 p.m.
Two works have been selected for the: Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibition Promoting the Ideals of Experimentation and Pushing Boundaries, Main Line Art Center Haverford, PA Juried by: Julien Robson, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).
Cultural Memory: Transdiasporic Art Practices Exhibition, Chicago, Illinois - Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of 'Cultural Memory: Transdiasporic Art Practices,' a group show with art in a variety of media by 23 women.
Juried by artist Pritika Chowdhry, this exhibit includes works of artists from diverse locations and heritages, whose creations embody individual acts of memorialization and remembrance.
The artists in this show have each taken on subject matters that are difficult and perhaps even controversial, but their artistic practices show a critical engagement with their specific material and a commitment to building bridges across cultural and national barriers through the visual arts. The works reveal a broad range of engagements with memory - some are about collective memories of large-scale traumas, some are about familial or generational memories, and others are about individual memories. These acts of remembrance reference and create connections between the geopolitics of India, Korea, Latvia, Sri Lanka, Germany, America, Pakistan, Iran, Japan, and Trinidad, among others.
Participating artists are Nandini Chirimar, Sun H. Choi, Anda Dubinskis, Frances Ferdinands, Karen Frostig, Sharon Harper, Katherine Harriott, Juarez Hawkins, Tehniyet Hussain, Shalalae Jamil, Naomi Kasumi, Susan Lenz, Judith G. Levy, Regina Mamou, Shaghayegh Mazloomi, Samanta Batra Mehta, Neli Ouzounova, Darlene Wesenberg Rzezotarski, Karina Schafer, Romy Scheroder, Pallavi Sharma, and Kari Souders.
Kari Souders (Villanova, Pennsylvania) Assimilate I oil, beeswax and hand sewn quilted fabric on canvas 22 x 22 inches $ 850
My work elaborates on one of the fundamental traditions in quilting: the reusing, blending and interlacing bits of fabric to form a new aesthetic object. Some quilts I hand-stitch with new fabrics whose colors and textures derive from the rich beauty passed down through centuries of textile design. Other quilts are directly borrowed from history by deconstructing antique ones. The recycling of old quilts is meant to create something outside of themselves and show that objects change as society evolves. With empathy I want to give these old quilts an opportunity to be revaluated in new contexts that reflect and intertwine passed traditions, standards and relationships with modern issues. The progression toward threading quilt remnants into my work was instinctive. The obsessive process of hand sewing, cutting, patching, ripping, layering textures and patterns is rooted in ritual. The endless repetition of detailed individual stitches is like the brushstrokes and marks I make on canvases. The weaving of the inside and outside surfaces is very physical and provides an outlet to connect with one’s body. Representing the creative traditions of women and acknowledging their rarely written voice is of utmost importance. This series is an attempt to layer dialogue and mutate fragmented parts in order to experience a montage of past and present, in and out, over and under, until they merge into new realities. They are patched, stitched, quilted and interwoven with both history and current obsessions. They symbolize our woven lives, where past and present coexist.
My painting titled Minuet I is in the top left corner of this page in American Style magazine. The work was choosen to be fetured and represent the Artists Who Teach organization. It will be on news stands August 25th 2009.
Aug. 31 - Sept. 4, 2009,Blurred Boundaries Exhibition: Curated by Lynn Krawczyk and juried by Virginia Spiegel,Kalamazoo, Michigan
Body Lore III, Oil, Hand Sewn Quilted Fabric and Bees Wax on Canvas 18" x 24"
New New Narratives: Stories and Messages in contemporary Art (11/10/09- 12/10/09) at the Cade Center for Fine Arts Gallery Arnold, MD Juror: Peter Bruun, Artistic Director, Art on Purpose, Baltimore, MD Artists' Talk and Reception is on Thursday November 12 from 6-8 p.m. 
