Nicola Lopez and Michael Kareken



Nicola Lopez

When looking at Nicola Lopez’s work the main theme I see running through all of these pieces is depth. The elements in all three pieces seem to be receding back into space because of her use of perspective, I can easily picture the images continuing on farther and farther down the block. These pieces all give the feeling of an urban jungle, which makes sense since she has spent much of her adult life living in New York and gaining inspiration from the city around her. What draws me to the pieces is her use of value and contour lines to differentiate between the elements in work. For instance, in Shadowland 1, though there are many different pieces, of what look like construction materials, the overall piece does not look crowded. Through the different marks and value used on each element everything is easily distinguished from the other while remaining a cohesive piece.

 Excerpts from the Flood I, 2006

 Shadowland 1, 2009

 Shadowland 4, 2009


 

Michael Kareken

What drew me to Michael Kareken’s work was the sense of intimacy that he conveys with his style. His use of charcoal and the marks that he makes gives the pieces a great sense of depth and emotion. His pieces aren’t always fully rendered with every item in the image being fully flushed out but this adds to the emotion of the piece. In his work Dream, you can sense the exhaustion that the woman may be feeling, and the hard, unblended marks around her give you a feeling of anxiousness or chaos, which is also implied by the papers and books strewn around her. This image and the other two I chose all have an emotion tied to them which is in direct relation to the style that these images were drawn in.

 Bedroom Interior #1, 1999
 
 Dream, 2002
 
 Maya, 2004

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 18, 2018 at 7:38 AM

    I think Michael Kareken artwork is very beutiful. Not everything is rendered like you said but they have a lot of emotion in them. Even though they are black and white they still hit the viewer with a strong feeling. Each of them seem to be telling a story and I really enjoy that in art.

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  2. Tiffany RedfordOctober 18, 2018 at 6:51 PM

    Michel Kareken’s drawings highlights the everyday scenes that are unseen or tend to be looked over. He finds beauty in the subtlety of life. His imagery allows the mind to wander into the deep dark spaces of his images and then pull you out again once your eye wanders into the light. He has mastered the skill of chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro is an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction. The use of this technique adds to the drama of the over all scene. His images are not highly rendered so as to capture realism but instead capture your emotions. The gestural marks give the images movement. This is a common theme in his other works as well. He builds up his drawings section by section. The sections in his drawings are distinct but also flow together organically due to his usage and lack of usage in line. The negative spaces in his drawings allow the mind to fill in the missing pieces, which allows the viewer to insert their own thought, feelings, emotions, and experiences into the imagery its self. Then all at once the content of the drawing takes on a whole new meaning. It suddenly becomes the story of your life. By taking the everyday scenes and shedding new light onto them he has created personal narratives for who ever gazes upon his work.

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