Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Ami.
Karen, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Chicago, raised in Indiana and Illinois. I attended The Boston Museum School, Tufts University (BFA, 1986) and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA, 1995) majoring in ceramics and sculpture. In 2005, I founded The Chicago Mosaic School, which is the first and only first Not-For-Profit school for Mosaic Arts Education outside of Europe. The school recently made a move to a beautiful state of the art facility in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood- on Granville Avenue, where it attracts both artists and students from around the world. I am mom to three amazing and beautiful musician sons and I also love heavy metal music, depraved humor, excellent red wine and the City of Chicago.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I create sculptural mosaics, drawings and ceramic works in my studio practice. I am fascinated with drawing, mosaic, ceramic and carving. In my artistic practice I create drawings and writings in clay and break them apart- reconstructing and reassembling pieces to create a new whole. This is my process: deconstruction and then rebuilding. My work tends to explore the balance between organ and plant, beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, life and death, and love and loss.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
Creating art has never been a goal to make money. For me, it taints the process; the work becomes a way to please an audience rather than to explore truth through personal expression. The latter is what I seek to do. It is not easy being an artist, a musician, a poet, actor or dancer. Like other creatives, I have found other ways to support myself so that I can develop my practice and experiment without the pressure of having to guess what someone might want to buy. I have always worked in the arts to support myself financially, primarily working in galleries or by teaching art. Keeping this separation between art and money has allowed me to create freely and honestly and keep my practice clear.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I teach, lecture and curate exhibitions in the US and abroad. My works can be seen in public and private collections internationally. This month, my work is included presently in the DEBUT exhibition at GoCM, The Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago and in November I will have work in the SOFA Chicago Exposition at Navy Pier.
Contact Info:
- Address: ArtAmiba
c/0 1127 Artists Studios
1127 West Granville Ave
Chicago IL 60660 - Website: www.artamiba.com
- Phone: 773 856 6777
- Email: amiba@me.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenamiart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artamiba
Image Credit:
©Karen Ami
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