Opening Reception: Friday, June 13, 6pm – 8pm
In her upcoming exhibition Verdant, artist Karen Azarnia depicts images of tropical plants and ferns that recall memories of home. They are meant to be lush and generous – to inspire pleasure, renewal, and resilience – as an act of generosity and care towards the viewer. For Azarnia, the meditative rhythms found in nature, the human experience, and painting are full of complexity, often contain paradox, and at the same time hold the potential to locate wonder.
Karen Azarnia is an artist, educator and independent curator. Born in Miami, FL she currently lives and works in Chicago. She has exhibited nationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions including recently at Yale Institute of Sacred Music (New Haven, CT), Alma Art and Interiors (Chicago, IL), Riverside Arts Center (Riverside, IL), and Geneva Center for the Arts (Geneva, IL). Azarnia is a grant recipient from the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago DCASE, and the 3Arts Foundation. Her work has been included in publications including Hyperallergic, the Chicago Tribune, Newcity, and the Huffington Post. She received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Azarnia currently teaches in the Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was awarded the Nick and Keven Wilder Award for excellence in teaching.
