Karen Hymer

A variety of media including Cyanotype with Gum Dichromate, Archival Pigment Prints on Silk, Archival Pigment Prints with Pastels

The past few years I have spent time alone exploring the natural world and experimenting in the studio/darkroom.  I often seek refuge in the desert, the forest, and by water. During my wanderings, I observe closely and photograph often. 

I am drawn to the quietness in the desert, the play of filtered light in the forest, the decay of fallen leaves, the vastness of the ocean, and the power of water.  

 My approach to image making explores the blending of photosensitive materials, digital media, printmaking, and other materials.  I enjoy working with 19th and 20th century photographic processes while also making use of digital technology.  The hand-made print is in important element in my work. I am fascinated with how the passage of time affects the human body and other natural elements in the world

Navigating the Internal explores themes of isolation, loneliness, and body image. As a single woman over 60 with an imperfect body, Karen Hymer makes self-images to navigate her internal thoughts and feelings. Evolving from years of photographing herself, these hand colored pigment prints blur the line between photographic reality and color illusion. There are three sections in this exhibition.

An Uncomfortable Reality

“The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt” Sylvia Plath

In this group of images I have turned the camera on myself as I played with light, motion, silk, and color. Evolving from years of photographing myself, these images blur the line between photographic reality and color illusion. They are archival pigment prints on watercolor paper. Many are hand-colored with pan pastels.

Somnolent Desire

“In art as in love, instinct is enough” Anatole France.

These dreamy, golden photographs allude to unfulfilled desires. They are small, intimate images that exude a sense of vanished time and love. The photographs are taken with an iphone and printed on vellum that is backed with gold leaf.

Silken

“ Art does not come from ideas. Art does not come from the mind. Art comes from the place where you dream. Art comes from your unconscious. It comes from the white – hot center of you” Robert Olen Butler

Silk is the strongest of natural fibers. It flows and shimmers, suggesting elegance and luxury. Flexible and flame resistant, it wards off dust mites, mold, and bacteria while locking in hydration and regulating body temperatureTragically, the silk worms that produce silk threads are killed in their cocoons during harvesting. I wear silk because it makes me feel desirable, sensuous, and strong, These images are printed on Satin and Chiffon using a large format inkjet printer.

Contact karenhymer@gmail.com for prices and availability.

4” x 4” Gilded images on vellum. 2022

This series of phytograms was created in response to and is a product of the Covid-19 pandemic. Living and working in isolation presented many challenges and also opportunities. Confining myself to my home, darkroom and studio, I worked with materials at hand including outdated sheet film, darkroom chemistry, fruits, vegetables, and plants. I experimented with a variety of techniques. For me, it was important to interact physically with the materials as a way of establishing a deep connection to the work. Playing with developer and other chemicals was unpredictable and exciting. Different films produced varying tones, exposures ranged from 15 minutes to hours, and applying leaf presented other challenges. I sought to create beautiful, unique images to counter the stress and anxiety I felt in my daily, external world. This series provided an escape into the mystery and intrigue of light and dark, where details are concealed and revealed, and the richness of gold and copper illuminate.

Process Description

Phytograms are camera-less images made by soaking plant matter in photo developer and then laying the plants on unexposed black and white sheet film. Glass is placed on top and the film is then exposed in the sun. Cyanotype chemistry can also be applied to the film before exposure. After exposure, the film is fixed and air-dried. In my series I have applied gold and copper leaf on the back of the film to create a variety of tonalities. Each film type produces different colors and levels of translucency. When soaked in the soda/vitamin C developer the plant matter releases phenols that interact with the film. This affects the colors produced. Each plant reacts differently and the amount of developer used determines areas of the film that will turn dark. Small amounts of cyanotype can produce a nice cool contrast to the warm tones of the film. The applied leaf is visible through the clearest parts of the film, shifting the color and adding richness to the image.

Purchase

Please inquire for sizes and prices. these are unique, one-of-a-kind images. karenhymer@gmail.com

In 2018 I returned to live in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. It really is a place like no other and is indeed enchanted. The light is magical, the land speaks a different language, and it is now my home. This past year I began photographing the land as I traveled the state. I was excited to return to New Mexico, though I have to say the neighboring Sonoran desert, the place of my birth, will always draw me back. As a westerner, I gain great pleasure from driving the back roads, exploring the natural and human–touched environment. These images were taken with my iPhone; that ever present tool. They are archival pigment prints on vellum, backed with 24k gold leaf. The images are printed small, requiring the viewer to come close in order to see the detail. This may seem to contradict an initial impression of the land: large, expansive, endless. I instead feel an intimacy and personal connection with this land and hope the viewer might also experience this through my images. Karen Hymer 2021

These images were created during the COVID-19 pandemic. They began as cell phone images taken the last few years on the Oregon coast. During self-isolation I printed them as photopolymer gravure etchings. They are small in scale - 4” x 4” - requiring the viewer to move in close and interact with them intimately.

Prices: $230 Framed ; $175 matted, $135 print

Age & Seduction is a group of hand-worked photopolymer gravures that explore the relationship between the aging human body and natural elements.  I grew up in the desert collecting dead animals, dried plants and rocks. This landscape has inspired me to seek relationships between the transformation of my own aging body and the processes of decay in the natural world.

I have also been influenced by the cookbook Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by Isabel Allende. Some of my images pair the body with foods believed to be aphrodisiacs.  Allende states that food, like eroticism starts with the eyes.  My eyes are drawn to fruits and vegetables past their prime and to bodies that display the evidence of age.  I seek to show aging as a natural yet mysterious process.

Though the photopolymer gravure process I utilize historic photographic methods, traditional printmaking techniques and cutting-edge digital technology. The gravure process is completely out-of-sync with contemporary popular photographic trends that privilege bigger, brighter, and faster. By selecting fine watercolor paper I enhance the tactile experience of each print. The velvet shadows afford detailed and sensual rendering of skin texture. Custom blending of inks highlights hands, arms, and torsos revealing a layered luminosity.

These images mark the passage of time, contemplating the overlooked and undervalued vestiges of life.  There is a tension imbued in the forms that brush up against each other—needles press skin, torsos hide behind branches, and fruit ages like flesh. Often metaphorical, these pictures are performances of self-reflection, pushing the limits of seeing the self, and encouraging the viewer to confront an uncomfortable beauty.

The first three images are from the series: Flesh and Flora. 

The next images are part of  a new series titled “Flesh and Food.” Influenced by the intriguing cookbook “Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses” by Chilean writer, Isabel Allende, my images pair the body with foods believed to be aphrodisiacs. Allende states that food, like eroticism starts with the eyes. My eyes are drawn to fruits and vegetables past their prime and to bodies that display the evidence of age.

The prints are photogravures and gum dichromate. In some cases there are multiple versions of an image.

 Contact Karen for prices. karenhymer@gmail.com

As a photographer, becoming “a woman of a certain age” has made me acutely aware of not-so-subtle, visual changes in my appearance and my body. Looking in the mirror has become a complex and not altogether pleasant experience, especially when I consider the female image in contemporary culture: the ideal woman glows with youth, smooth and hairless except for lustrous locks framing an unwrinkled face. I find few positive images of women over 50 and am instead bombarded with offers for face lifts, tummy tucks, weight-loss programs, hair removal, etc. . . . To embrace our appearance and value our bodies, must women my age turn to antidotes to "looking your age"? What of the wrinkles, scars, lumps, and folds forged by movement, suffering, accomplishment, habit, and the simple act of smiling with joy; the markers of our life experience mapped on the body?

My work intentionally brings the aging female body into view. Using an iPhone camera, I document parts of the female form typically hidden from sight. In these black-and-white, close-up photographs, the body is examined in much finer focus than is possible with the naked eye. Viewed at a large scale and devoid of context, these abstract representations defy recognition and cannot be confidently identified even as male or female, internal or external, healthy or marred. Each texture, crease, and coloration unapologetically marks the vagaries of time. Enlarged, juxtaposed, and displayed as polyptychs, these works become an intimate testament to the mysteries of the aging body.

November, 2021

WOW - It has been a crazy year and a half. I have created new work (see new series: Phyto Illusions, Return to Enchanted Lands, and Botanicals.) and Light Art Space is up and running. We will be offering more workshops beginning February - visit lightartspace.com for information.

Karen ’s News - May 2020

Writing while self-isolation due the the COVID-19 pandemic…

For the last year I have really focused my time and energy on Light Art Space, my new gallery and teaching space in Silver City, New Mexico.. Please visit lightartspace.com to see what has been happening.

Thank you.

Karen

past news:

Workshops:

Cyanotypes     The Drawing Studio, Tucson, AZ  March 16th 9am – noon

https://reg125.imperisoft.com/TheDrawingStudio/Search/Registration.aspx

Photopolymer Gravure Art Intersection, Gilbert, AZ March 17th 9am – 5pm

https://artintersection.com/event/photopolymer-gravure-with-karen-hymer-17mar19/

Cyanotypes  Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon. June 7th

https://www.sitkacenter.org/workshop/catalog (catalogue will be public Feb. 26th)

Photopolymer Gravure  Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon. June 8 – 10

https://www.sitkacenter.org/workshop/catalog (catalogue will be public Feb. 26th)

Publications Featured in:

Polymer Photogravure: A Step-by Step Manual Highlighting Artists and Their creative Practice. Clay Harmon, A Focal Press Book, 2019. ISBN-13: 978-0815366041

This is an amazing book and a must have for anyone interested in photogravure.

Salann Magazine: Giving Artists a Voice. January 2019.

http://salannmagazine.com/magazine/

Exhibitions:

Print Austin: The Contemporary Print 2019. Austin, Texas. January 18 – February 16.

https://printaustin.org/event/the-contemporary-print/

Print Exchange:

Ambos Lados International Print Exhibitions 2018 – 2019. Horned Toad Prints and Taller Grafica Libre.

Hope to see you in Silver City at one of the Light exhibitions and come play at a workshop in Arizona or Oregon!

Happy Winter!

Karen