Karen Strand
(Longview, WA)

White Silk Robe, Oil on synthetic paper, 12" x 16"

Female nude, semi-reclining. White silk robe nearby on floor.

We are all, underneath our clothing, “au naturel”. Remove the garments that proclaim so much to society – our social status, our taste, our self-expression….without clothes the nude body speaks its message more quietly but says it more directly. There is actually more that is “left to the imagination” of the viewer than when the model is clothed- without the distraction of clothing, hats, jewelry, shoes. Thinking about that person as I make marks on paper or brushstrokes on a panel, what ends up in the painting is a fusion of what I see and what I feel while looking, mixed in with what I imagine when I look again later. It’s as though, while painting, I imagine that I become a version of that person. What I hope every viewer sees and feels will be as different as each of us are, yet extremely personal. It is natural, after all, to see the beauty and vulnerability in the nude form and feel the connection of our shared humanity.