about

Irene Rofheart Karlen

Irene Karlen has been interested in making art since being able to hold a crayon without tipping over. She studied at the Art Students League, The School of Visual Arts, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, MassArt at Bennington and the Garrison Art Center.

As a freelance illustrator for many years, she had clients such as Time Magazine, The Boston Globe, Microsoft, Nickelodeon, Ford Motors, Topps and anybody else who needed drawings. Her work included editorial, advertising and textbook illustration as well as animation.

Her approach has always been an emotional, aesthetic experimentation with tools, materials, skills and techniques. She has explored traditional and nonobjective oil and acrylic painting, charcoal drawing, collage and ceramics.

In recent years she has been making sculpture from raw wood and repurposed salvaged material. She is particularly interested in how shaping material interacts with how the body moves