072 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com
Karen Hollingsworth
Karen Hollingsworth paints high-contrast images
of emotional and physical escape. She creates a
safe world under the moon where animals thrive.
Hollingsworth combines her reference pictures
in Photoshop to make joyful compositions that
she later paints to escape to from her past losses.
The artist feels responsible for the suff ering of the
animals and thus adheres to a plant-based diet that
doesn’t contribute to the continuous destruction
of the animals. Hollingsworth fi nds the painting
process very healing and hopes her art brings peace
to many others.Rescue, oil on canvas, 36 x 60"Sharon Siew Suan Kow
Sharon Siew Suan Kow is one of a few hyperrealist
colored pencil artists working in Malaysia. While her
creative process relies heavily on photography, the
artist portrays more than snapshots of color and light
in her art. Many of her large pieces depict unusual
close-ups of elaborate mechanical constructions,
such as an old typewriter, broken clock mechanisms,
rusted chains and metal parts. These highly detailed
colored pencil drawings communicate a feeling
of subtle melancholy and introspection with the
emphasis on passage of time. And time plays a
crucial role in all human experiences.In This Quiet Moment, colored pencil on paper, 14 x 20"56
“ I’m terribly disturbed by what happens to animals on
factory farms. I hate needless suff ering to defenseless
animals. My images are about escaping: animals
getting free from these horrible tragic lives. I also feel
the weight of suff ering in my own life and my need
to escape from it. In Rescue through the kindness and
courage of the sheep and the crow, a rescue mission
is in progress to save the bunnies. Under the dark
of night, with only the light of a partial moon and
bright star, these hopeful creatures have taken their
future into their own ‘paws.’”“ There is something about quietness. That particular
moment where we are able to hear our innermost
thoughts. A time for refl ection, contemplation
with a hint of melancholy. To retreat into the
quietness is not selfi sh, it is a dissonance that
we need to appreciate what we have, to mature
and transfi gure us. Being an artist, a moment of
quietness is priceless. It is a time when I can be my
true self, to listen to my inner voice. I let out all of
the anger, bitterness and sadness that's buried
deep inside without hurting anyone else. It is a
way to purge out all those negative thoughts and
thereafter move on with a positive mind.”