Tori Karpenko: Into the Liminal

TORI KARPENKO INTO THE LIMINAL TRAVER GALLERY

THE JOURNEY Above the mountains the geese turn into the light again, painting their black silhouettes on an open sky.

Sometimes everything has to be enscribed across the heavens so you can find the one line already written inside you.

Sometimes it takes a great sky to find that first, bright and indescribable wedge of freedom in your own heart.

Sometimes with the bones of the black sticks left when the fire has gone out someone has written something new in the ashes of your life.

You are not leaving.

Even as the light fades quickly now, you are arriving.

-David Whyte

Tooth, 24 x 48 in

Archeaology of Grief, 20 x 29 in

Kissing Shadows (Eclipse, part 1), 48 x 88 in

My artwork is rooted in a sense of place, and for me the most special place of all is the wilderness of the North Cascades. ‘Inside the Liminal’ pays homage to the unique colors and dynamic textures that sparked inspiration, discovery and renewal at times when I intentionally pursued the solace of liminal space through solitude in mountain wilderness.

Where liminality was originally most often used to describe a specific stage in rituals tied to cultural contexts, I am using this word to speak of an evanescent and fluid state of mind found in a more personal ritual.

“Liminality may perhaps be regarded…as a realm of pure possibility whence novel configurations of ideas and relations may arise” – Victor Turner I find it most often in the studio and the deeper I go into the mountains. The symbiosis of studio and sojourn creates a profound conversation between raw experience and deeper contemplation as I bring elements of wild space to life in a painting. Liminal creatures such as the fox figure prominently in mythology as shapeshifters and spirit guides, while images of shadows, reflections on water, bridges, transitional moments between seasons, death/ rebirth, and the eclipse capture a blurry boundary between worlds.

While these transitory situations can include periods of uncertainty, anguish, or even the existential fear of facing the abyss in void, they can also serve as a path towards renewal. In a liminal space, attachments to one world or the other blur and dissolve, and in the midst of that disorientation there is a heightened possibility for new perspectives. At times when I feel overwhelmed by the pieces of my life not fitting together, a liminal space can create a temporarily fluid and malleable perspective on life, opening possibilities to deconstruct old ideas and attachments. To quote Jung, “What takes place in the dark phase of liminality is a process of breaking down...in the interest of ‘making whole’ one’s meaning, purpose, and sense of relatedness once more.”

In the interest of making whole, find something pure in the world and visit it often.

Immerse yourself fully and get lost there for a while May we all be filled with wonder and reverence - Tori Karpenko March, 2017

Laughing at Anger, 48 x 48 in

November, 20 x 31 in

Illuminate the Drift, 42 x 24 in

Find Something Pure (Eclipse, part 2), 48 x 53 x 26 in

A Place With No Name 59 x 22 in

The Judge, 24 x 48 in

Necklace 67 x 48 in

Inside the Liminal, 48 x 36 in

Signature of the Invisible 48 x 36 in

TORI KARPENKO INTO THE LIMINAL MARCH 1 - 30, 2018

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