Re-birth of a Nation
“I am an artist and that’s not a title or something you can pick up or put down when it suits you. It is life.”
Karen Terry is a visual artist whose work is inspired by the past, the present, and the thought of healing. “A song, a scent, a conversation will stir my creativity,” she says. “My craft honors and keeps memories-–the joys, sorrows and hopefully promotes healing. I create with emotion, so my style and medium are all over the place. I have a reflective heart.”
Karen’s current artistic medium is sculpting. Her clay, wire, and paper sculptures show life and everyday people fishing, dancing, playing music, and living their lives. “I want people to understand my assignment when creating each piece. I want to stir emotion and thought,” she says. Karen wants her work to speak for itself. She wants those who come across her work to get an idea of who she is based on the work alone. “No boundaries–-I am an artist and that’s not a title or something you can pick up or put down when it suits you. It is life,” Karen says.
Young Isabell
Healing
Uncle Hubert
Karen is getting into another visual medium: film. Her recent short film The First 20 will debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this month. In addition to film, she has a few photo series that she would like to share with the public. Her photo series We Went North is a collection of her family photographs from the 1930s to the early 1960s. “They were hidden away in an elderly family member’s home and discovered after their passing,” she says “The collection conveys their life in Harlem, New York, their fashion and their hairstyles. It’s really informative and cool.”
To learn more about Karen Terry, follow her on Instagram.
