Choctaw artist Karen Clarkson strives to represent her figurative subjects through a realistic style, but for her new show at Blue Rain Gallery in late July, she endeavors to also express “how I see them as spiritual beings moving through the world and the impact it creates,” she says. Through the use of form and color, as well as developing a personal relationship with her subjects, Clarkson translates this experience to viewers.
Under Grandma’s Blanket, oil on cradled birch board, 10 x 20"
“For years,” the artist continues, “I have been creating in symbolism as well as realism-based themes in separate venues. I am now attempting to combine these two approaches. It has challenged me and invigorated me at the same time. I feel I am incorporating ideas into a subject that magnifies a perspective that I hope will be felt by my audience. A culture is a product of a collection of experiences, traditions and beliefs that become the basis of a societal structure. I strongly believe the more I explore this role, the greater this influence will be felt and the more it will reverberate.”
Clarkson shares that a great example of this is evident in a work titled Under Grandma’s Blanket. “This painting is based upon a young woman’s dream she had of her grandmother after she passed away,” says the artist. “Traditionally raised in a matriarchal society, she enjoyed a close relationship with her maternal grandmother. Losing her was a great loss in her life and her grandmother’s blanket gave her comfort as she came to term with the loss. One night she was visited in her dreams by her grandmother who told her: ‘It is your time to lead.’ In my painting, I am depicting the power of her grandmother’s words, which are shown as a glowing fire. I believe strongly in the power of these dreams, and I am enriched by the experience of bringing them to life through imagery.”
A Girl’s Best Friend, oil on linen panel, 24 x 12"
In a new piece, A Girl’s Best Friend, we see a young girl holding firm to a doll. The painting is in a portrait style. “[This] is based on the resolute determination of one little girl who is still holding on to her childhood [while] reflecting courage and determination for what is yet to come,” Clarkson explains. “I definitely see myself in her. I hope the viewer will feel the same questions that come to my mind when entering her presence. Will she retain the beauty of her innocence? Will she grow strong and flourish? What do we hope for her—what did you hope for yourself?”
The show will also include slightly older pieces of importance, including Unstoppable, showing a traditionally dressed Navajo girl armed with a weapon and “standing up to a seemingly insurmountable threat,” notes Clarkson. “The obvious Star Wars analogy is shattered by the presentation of her lightsaber as her weapon. In my painting, the lightsaber is representing the strength of her culture and teachings which are giving her the power to stand up to a formidable enemy (systemic ignorance, prejudice and stereotypes). She is resolute and grounded. We cheer her on and believe she will be victorious.”
Unstoppable, oil on canvas, 20 x 16"
Greeting the Day, oil on canvas, 18 x 24"
Unstoppable is a 2023 piece that was shown at the Heard Museum in Phoenix last year.
Viewers will find that this current body of work perfectly illustrates Clarkson’s newly focused path on both realistic and symbolic approaches to storytelling. “I hope this collection of paintings will encourage viewers to enter my journey of a world I feel is more than what meets the eye,” she says. “For me, they are deeply spiritual and challenge us to explore the yearnings of our heart and to allow it to rise up—[offering] hope. I know I want to look at something every day that inspires me to do the same.”
The Messenger, oil on canvas, 24 x 12"
The show will open with an artist reception at Blue Rain Gallery’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, location on July 25, from 5 to 7 p.m., and will close on August 5. —
Blue Rain Gallery
July 25-August 5, 2025
544 S. Guadalupe Street , Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 954-9902, www.blueraingallery.com
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