Carriers of the Past    2004 - 2005

With Carriers of the Past , I continue my investigation of stone objects. This is the fourth series since 1999 in which  I have explored eroding stone structures. These paintings are about stones and memory, about what is preserved. Stone objects have long been fashioned by the world’s people in diverse areas for a variety of purposes. Long after the cultures have disappeared or changed these stones remain, leaving their ambiguous shapes to tell us their stories. These stones become carriers of the past.

~Karen Curry

Bruce Boudreau of ArtProject September 2005 on Carriers of the Past

Artist Karen Curry continues her explorative approach to image making with the practical and intuitive documentation of eroding stone structures as silent time capsules. The stone benches of Carriers of the Past are a distillation of her previous work, objects depicted in the process of erosion and reclamation by nature. Curry seeks to capture the essence of what is now only partially there, the existence of these stones within a modern context separated from their past narrative. Her approach is both clinical and perceptive as she lays witness to what remains of a past existence while revealing a world of reflection and stillness. Within the surface, Curry captures the sacredness of each stone as it exists in the present and these large-scale objects invite us to engage and experience them. These organic forms, with their evidence human intervention, carry the mystery of time suspended, as they are at once recognizable yet never fully explained.