Karin Nelson, an award winning and nationally published artist from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is best known for her structures: city buildings, rustic barns … any manmade form with flat planes to reflect the sun. With the aid of large pallet knives and cheap bristle brushes, she expresses her subjects with masculine lines and strong marks. And yet her paintings strike a warm, welcoming chord with her viewers, transporting them to memories from their past. She accomplishes this by representing the lighting conditions in her scenes with a realistic color palette, even though the subjects are slightly abstracted.

​Karin explains, “I believe the strongest triggers to visual memory are related to light, and the endless combinations that make up its nuances. When I am successful in expressing the delicate, mysterious quality of light in the scene, there is a good chance that others have witnessed that same sight, and are brought to a place of memory. And that’s when the connection occurs between myself and the viewer.”

Join the us for Karin’s opening reception on Thursday, November 17 at 6:00 pm in the Lievense Gallery.