Karina Noel Hean
Hean is a drawing artist based in Santa Fe, NM who teaches at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design and Santa Fe Community College. Hean received her Master of Fine Arts degree from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.
Hean's mixed media drawings respond to the quality and character of place both as a mirror and as a limitation as they investigate the impact of landscape on the mind and body as well as the ever-evolving and constructed state and definition of landscape.
Born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay in Mayo, Maryland, Hean's family and neighbors fished, crabbed, swam, explored, and advocated for this fragile and endangered watershed. Her early connection to the natural world, environmentalism/stewardship, and the vast boundary of water presented by her birthplace continue to inform her work. Relocating to the southwest and western USA has provided new boundaries, questions, and sensations in the form of deserts, canyons, and mountains. The southwest provides an open location where the distinction between research and recreation is nonexistent; where lifestyle and inspiration harmonize.
Aware of her curiosity into the connections between landscape, place travel, and culture, Hean has completed eight artist residencies over the last eight years that equally facilitate the need for research and work, including Harper's Ferry Historical National Park, Vermont Studio Centers, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, I-Park, Jentel Foundation, Aspen Guard Station Artist Residency, Soaring Gardens Artist Retreat, and Buffalo River National Park in Harrison, AR. During the Fall of 2008 she completed a two month Artist Fellowship at the Ballinglen Arts Center in Ballycastle, Ireland and another two month residency at the KHN Center in Nebraska in 2009. These generous institutions provide an uninterrupted environment and support that allows for the development of new questions, ideas, and work.
She has participated in solo and group juried and invitational exhibitions, both regionally and nationally, including: Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR; The Foundry Art Center in Columbia, MO; Hera Gallery in Wakefield, RI; Durango Arts Center in Durango, CO; University of Colorado in Boulder, CO; Gerald and Stanlee Rubin Center for the Visual Arts and Art Junction in El Paso, TX; New Mexico State University and the Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art in Las Cruces, NM; the Museum of Fine Art and Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, NM; Crown Center Gallery in Chicago, IL; Bobbie De Matteis Gallery, St. John's College, and the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, MD; Her work has been featured in The Drawing Center's Viewing Program since 2007.
ARTISTS
Artists may submit images, resume, and other material to anne@ziagallery.net. Hard copies of images on CD, or other medium can be submitted to the address listed in the contact section. Please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope for returning any hard submissions. Submissions that do not include a SASE will not be returned.