'Welcome to the Neighbourhood' by Karla Houser
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Karla Houser's debut solo-exhibition draws from two recent series of work - juxtaposing circular cityscapes with expansive, proud and intriguing landscapes.
The work explores the fluidity of perspective and experience. They contemplate the edges of power, and the inevitability of movement and change. They invite the viewer to contemplate balance, duality and transformation.
Viewed together, the paintings are intended to empower the viewer to think about their own relationships with the ecosystems and cultural systems in which they exist.
Karla Houser is a Canadian multi-disciplinary artist with a wide-ranging interest in critical and creative expression. She was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, where her interest in artistic expression was also influenced by working class politics and sub-cultures. After receiving a BA in Political Science from the University of Windsor, she attended the University of Amsterdam's International School for Humanities and Social Sciences where she received an MA in Sociology.
Artistically, Houser is largely self-taught, but she has been active since a young age in extracurricular fine arts education and practice including painting, sculpture and printmaking. Houser has lived for extended periods in Amsterdam, Osaka and Toronto during which time she has developed her style and later sold paintings privately. Houser relocated to Huntsville in 2020 - a move that has allowed her to focus more time on her painting practice.
Houser has developed a distinct style of minimal realism. A technical logic underpins the compositions and colour, so that even the abstractions convey a realistic dynamic and balance. Her paintings portray unique and striking perspectives, while also conveying familiar emotions.
