Karen Boone
Armoring​, 2026
Oil on cardboard
14" x 12" x 5"
 
Artist Bio
"As a sustainability artist I create in a way that does not harm the nature that inspires me. I create the illusion of heavy natural formations like rocks and trees into fragile, balancing and floating sculptures. By causing someone look twice at my art, hopefully they are encouraged to get outside, observe everything more closely, how humans and nature are all connected. I use industrial waste like cardboard for my sculpture, apply a plant-based gesso, and paint them with foraged earth pigments, like ochre and charred wood from forest fires. My partner Rick Runyon and I collaborate on the design and building of minimalist scrap metal stands for the sculptures. I am a lifelong hiker, backpacker and vegetarian, which influences everything I create. I spent my formative years as a graphic designer in Basel Switzerland, Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo Japan. The sophistication and design aesthetic of these places, along with an insatiable desire to be outside lead me to more extreme backpacking and awareness of environmental issues, from my day-to-day studio practice eliminating toxins and harsh chemicals to the larger, universal need to protect wilderness and nature. We live on a peaceful little property in Southern Indiana, where we have an organic garden, orchard, pond and forest. I try to live and work in a way that does the least amount of harm, in collaboration with other artists, film makers, anthropologists, scientists, farmers and engineers working to detoxify all industries."- Karen Boone.