Instagram: @niadartcenter
Website: https://niadart.org/collections/karen-may
Bio: "Karen May (b. 1950) is a multidisciplinary artist who joined NIAD Art Center in 2011. Her works often reference gardening, cats, songs, and dolls. May refers to her art as a “memory tool,” explaining, “If I have to remember my mom I can draw a picture of my mom. One way or the other I’m always thinking of my mom.” In addition to themes of personal history, May also uses found ephemera from art publications, co-opting the imagery with her own line-work and text. In 2023, seven of these mixed-media detournements were acquired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Karen May's work has been published and exhibited widely in the Bay Area, notably at the Oakland Museum of California, Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco, and Personal Space Gallery in Vallejo, CA. A two-part solo exhibition entitled Karen May: ArtForum Interventions (2024) was presented by the Arts Center at Duck Creek in East Hampton, NY. "
Statement: "“Sometimes I make fashion dresses. I try to be easy with myself. Sometimes I make a picture of something, maybe Karen or her mother or a dress. One of the things I do at NIAD Art Center is weaving: over and under, over and under. Some of it I do by hand, I go knitting along the way.” - Karen May To create her textile collages and soft sculpture, Karen May stitches together found fabrics, beads, crocheted and stuffed objects, and other fiber materials that evoke memories of her mother and her garden, among other personal and poetic connections. Some of these constructions start as clothes, become flags, and then become wearable once more. "