“Celebrating Nature,” an exhibition of mixed media works on paper by artist Karen Steen will be presented by the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC), opening Saturday, September 21, 2024, with a public reception from 3 to 6 p.m. at the new Sparc Centre Gallery at the Fremont Centre in South Pasadena.
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Inspired by a natural environment under threat, Steen says she views her vibrant, buoyant works “as ecosystems, a group of diverse elements and forces that have settled into a balanced and dynamic system.” These are interpreted through an amalgamation of painting, drawing, and paper shapes laser-cut from images of life forms in the natural world. “I attempt to imbue my pieces with qualities of the biological world: diversity, repetition, intricacy, rhythm, balance and interconnection,” she states.
Steen’s interest in nature’s diverse ecosystems began in a childhood fascination with tidepools—“small worlds filled with life.” In addition to academic degrees from ArtCenter College of Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Steen, based in Pasadena and a South Pasadena native, is a certified California Naturalist.
“Celebrating Nature” runs through November 9, 2024. The new SPARC Centre Gallery is at the Fremont Centre, 1000 Fremont Ave., Suite 120, South Pasadena. (Entrance in rear parking lot.) Gallery hours will vary after the Sept. 21 opening. To schedule visits on other dates during the run of the show, contact curator Blue Trimarchi at (626) 676-4195. Admission is free.
Upcoming shows—Oct. 19, 2024: The SPARC Centre Gallery will be open during the Arts Crawl. Dec. 1-31, 2024: “SPARC’S Annual Holiday Show.”
The move to the Fremont Centre Properties building coincides with SPARC’s 15th anniversary of arts enrichment and advocacy in the community, marking the non-profit organization’s first permanent home. Founded as a grassroots effort in 2009, the South Pasadena Arts Council (SPARC) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that develops educational and public arts programs, creates interactive projects, and collaborates with other organizations in the City of South Pasadena and the surrounding Los Angeles area to foster and produce cultural events featuring the visual, performing, literary and media arts. SPARC is open to people in all creative fields, art appreciators, art patrons, educators, and any others interested in helping the arts thrive in South Pasadena and neighbouring communities. Information: (626) 789-5605, https://www.sopasartscouncil.org/
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