Page 7 - Karen Hackenberg 2018 book

I I am an an environmental activist though not in in in the the strictest sense of the the word I I paint and cra artworks rising from a a a a a a a a a a a a simple primal urge to create beauty by making things and have learned an an unshakable habit of noticing I seek meaning in in in the the the the world around me me and notice the the the the ironic absurdities in in in the the the the ways we humans o o o o o en regard the the the the natural world as merely the the resource for our our self-gratifying consumer habits while we ignore the the destruction of life and beauty that results from our oblivious rush to purchase the next big thing As a a a a a a a a visual artist I communicate best through images and and in in in my wry elegiac paintings I bear dark witness and and document loss “Have fun saving the world or or you you are just going to depress yourself ”
- David Brower founder of the Sierra Club In my current painting series Watershed I I take a a a a a a a light-hearted yet subversive approach to the serious subject of of of ocean degradation and present a a a a a a a a a tongue-in-cheek taxonomy of of of imaginary post-consumer creatures of of of the sea The Watershed paintings are inspired by the the incongruity of the the man-made detritus found washed up on on the the the otherwise pristine shores near my Discovery Bay WA studio the the the plastic shards and PETE water bottles plastic plastic bags the the the the mismatched running shoes the the the the foggy plastic plastic water bottles the the the the throw-away lighters the the the the frayed lengths of nylon rope the spent shotgun shells to name but a a a a a few I collect this local otsam as it bobs in on on the the the waves from far and and and and near and and and and with my ear ear to to the the the sand for a a a a a a a a a a a close view I pose and and and and photograph it it on the the the beach where it it it strands The resulting seascape compositions depict the the beach trash as as as monolithic thereby providing a a a a a a visual metaphor for the the the overwhelming magnitude of of the the the issue of of marine debris I meticulously paint these seascapes in in in in oil and gouache lovingly cra ing
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beautiful images of conventionally ugly beach cast-o s s s s s s aiming to create a a a a a a a a provocative visual juxtaposition of form and idea idea My work is is in in uenced by the ideas embodied in in Pop Art by by artists such as Claes Oldenburg Ed Ruscha and and Andy Warhol and and by by the iridescent light found in the paintings of realist still life painter Janet Fish “There is a a a a a slow-burn pre-apocalyptic quality to Karen Hackenberg’s Watershed paintings that calls to mind the fatalistic mood of On The Beach Nevil Shute’s 1957 doomsday novel about Australians helplessly awaiting the advance of radioactivity spreading from the the northern nations who have annihilated one another in nuclear war ”
- Jake Seniuk On the Beach:
Karen Hackenberg’s Post-Pop Paintings with Green Heart
In Shades of Green: Amphorae ca ca 2012 I I depict six discarded plastic and glass bottles posed on a a a a a a a a driftwood board in in in evening winter light This salty and surreal row of discarded “green” bottles appears to have surfed ashore on ocean waves escaping intact from from an an an antiquities exhibit case from from the future complete with a a a a a a a a a trompe l’oeil museum tag lying among the the the the rocks in in in the the the the foreground Illustrating the the the the ubiquitous use use of the the the the word green green as as as as ecological as as as as well as as as as green green as as as as color the painting equates common soda bottles with priceless ancient Greek amphorae and and provokes questions about the impact and and value of 21st century consumer culture on on future generations My large-scale oil painting Have an Ice Day depicts a a a a a a a a a a a a tattered plastic party-ice bag sporting the cartoonish graphic of a a a a a a a a a a a polar bear oating in in in in limbo over the sea The party-ice in in in in this bag has long since vanished just as as the the the ice ice cubes illustrated on the the the bag are melting out from under the the the sunglass-clad ice-bear as as he he he he poignantly waves good-bye a a a a a a a a a a parting metaphor for the the potential of mass extinction in in in in in the the warming and disappearing habitats of the globe By using ironic beauty and humor in in in in a a a a a a subtle way I entice the the viewer to look closer counteracting defeatism in in in in the the face of the world’s overwhelming ecological crisis and bringing poignant attention to global mass extinctions Karen Hackenberg