Karen Madden

Using mild steel in my abstract sculptures challenges me physically, mentally and creatively. I enjoy the use of power tools to get want I want and then adding a pop of color by painting, staining or powder coating. No two pieces are exactly alike which is satisfying to me and never dull.  I pursued my education in art by working with my hands and pulling from my career background in science and math. Working with metal is a very hands on experience for me. It also requires a certain amount of science and math to get the right look.  Feeling the metal twist, bend, and welding it together provides for me the tools and roadmap for creativity. With the beauty of abstract art coming from the use of shapes, forms, colors and textures, I gather energy by coaxing the metal into forms that have a different look depending on which way they are viewed. My pieces have no set boundaries which reflects complexity but yet are graceful and thoughtful in the moment. I look to abstract art not to represent a specific object but rather to provoke a thought. The observer will see what they want to see – I’m only trying to get them to think about it.

Though I have no formal training in sculpting with metal, I learned techniques of cutting, bending, and welding metal from metal workers and artists as well as experimentation on my own.