Contemporary artist Karen Navarro enjoys uncertainty as part of her process, departing from the norm as her work occupies a space between photography and sculpture.
I always aim for my work to be inviting, to seduce you to reflect on topics that challenge our preconceived notions.
Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
Featured image: Installation view. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
Artist portrait courtesy contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
Please tell us a little about yourself, what brought you to the world of contemporary art and how did you start?
I am originally from Argentina and now I am living in the U.S. I think everything started at an early age. My grandmother, who was a dressmaker, was a great inspiration to me, which explains my decision to study Fashion Design at the University of Buenos Aires.
Once relocated to Houston I decided to enrol in a certificate program at the Houston Center for Photography. In photography, I found a passion and a medium that allows me to express myself in a way where I can create my own worlds with no restrictions, norms, or rules to follow. Nonetheless, I found myself wanting to experiment more – to create work that is made with my hands, which is the type of work I am exploring and creating today.
Side view: Fragment. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
What is the primary role of a contemporary artist? How do you describe yourself in the context of challenging people’s perspectives via your work and art?
I am not sure I know how to answer that question but I know contemporary artists must, in what concerns me, reflect the times we are living today. It is the artists’ duty to create dialogues. I always aim for my work to be inviting, to seduce you to reflect on topics that challenge our preconceived notions. Identity, belonging and the self are topics I always centre around.
Subject #12. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
How do you deal with the conceptual difficulty and uncertainty of creating work?
I enjoy uncertainty and the process that takes to create a work of art. Usually, ideas change throughout the process of creating a piece. I found that the more I work – the more solutions or ideas I find for the pieces I am creating, or want to create. For this reason, I am constantly working on something, sketching, or looking for materials or testing them, developing an idea, or actually fabricating the piece.
Subject #9. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
What would you call your style? Let’s talk about the evolution of your practice over the years. Tell us about your commitment to your current medium.
I like to occupy the space between photography and sculpture. I usually depart from stereotypical photographs of subjects to render them through constructive and deconstructive methods. After photographing subjects, I then cut and reassemble the image to recreate a new form or a new character, and I like to call these kinds of portraits that I create, constructed portraits.
In my early work, I was doing only photography and exploring a diverse range of topics like certainty and uncertainty, identity, femininity, and the intersection between the possible and impossible. Which was more surreal in a sense. But later on, I felt the need to work more with my hands and extend the process of creating a work of art and I jumped right in doing collages. At the same time I thought I was relevant to include physical properties to the work by adding multi-layers that could be parallel or interpreted as the complexity of identity.
I wanted to extend this work and explore more and challenge the flat two dimensional surface of a photograph and create more three-dimensional objects that challenge our visual perceptions. So I started to add wood, acrylic paint, resin, and other materials to the prints. My work now centers around the topic of identity and it’s expanding.
Artist at work: Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
What inspires you? Let’s talk about your frameworks, references and process.
To create work, I draw inspiration from personal experiences that usually resonate with a larger group of people. I’m always interested in materiality and ways to challenge our preconceived notions.
Let’s talk about your career, or if you prefer artistic journey. What were your biggest learning and hiccups along the way?
I think my artistic journey taught me to be patient and perseverance. I always say work hard but work smart.
Any mentor, curator or gallerist who deserves a special mention for furthering your journey? What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Yes, Patricia Restrepo, assistant curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, is someone I will be forever grateful for following and believing in my art practice since I began and for the opportunities. And, my gallerists, Geoffrey Koslov and Bryn Larsen from FotoRelevance, for being so awesome and being so present.
Subject #4 . Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
Tell us about your artist studio, what kind of place is it? Could you describe your usual work-day in the studio?
I like to refer to my art studio space as a big white box. The space is very tidy and very minimal. I like it this way because otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to focus.
A usual day at the studio would be, as soon as I step in I will turn on the computer and play some music or maybe screen a documentary, depending on my mood. Then, if I have to start working on something and the studio a little disorganised, I will organise it first. With the space clean and organised I will be able to start working on whatever it is that I am working on: printing, painting, cutting, sanding, etc. In my working space, there is a chair that faces the little gallery space that I have in my studio, where I like to sit to take a break and reflect or think.
I’m not really methodic with my process from one body of work to another body of work. How I approach every work is different because the work is always evolving.
Subject #8. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
What are you working on now? What’s coming next season?
Currently, I am working on a project about my personal identity. The work is very personal but I am aiming to transform the personal into the collective and the collective into the political.
I will touch base upon topics like my reconstructed identity, racism, migration, and the sense of belonging among other things. For this work, I am planning to use photographs, language, and a variety of sculptural forms to examine skin colours and then to question the absurdity of categorising people based on their skin colour.
I am actually looking for participants from all over the world to be part of the project, it’s very easy to participate and can be done from the phone. My Instagram would be a good way to contact me to learn more.
Installation view. Contemporary artist Karen Navarro.
How has this affected your practice and plans?
It actually hasn’t affected me that much in regards to productivity. This time of self-isolation is somewhat normal for me. I used to spend most of my time alone working at the studio or working from home when I have computer work. I adapt very easily to situations, and I get very imaginative and become a problem solver when I am restricted. This period, has in fact, given me the opportunity to pause, rethink, and investigate more. But more importantly ‘to rest’.
Before you go – you might like to browse our Artist Interviews. Interviews of artists and outliers on how to be an artist. Contemporary artists on the source of their creative inspiration.