Wayfinding

works by Evan Karatzas

August 1 - 31 | Reception Friday, August 1 / 5 - 8pm during Art 'Round Town

Evan Karatzas explores abstract imagery that emphasizes gesture and movement. Working mostly with handmade tools and palette knives, his acrylic work on paper and canvas panel capture moments that can feel both chaotic and serene. The high-contrast and algorithmic nature of his work is drawn from his career as a visual designer and his work at the Dynamic Media Institute at MassArt where he received his MFA in Design and currently teaches. While this work is influenced by these experiences, it represents a sharp break from the tools, processes and conventions that shaped his professional work.

The exhibition includes Karatzas' Whisp series, eliciting windswept moments of controlled chaos captured in still frame. The imagery can feel at once tranquil and tumultuous, reflecting the complex mix of fear, self-doubt and pride that often comes from working in new and unfamiliar territory. This series makes use of constructed tools and brushwork to apply overlapping strokes that form shapes that appear to rotate and move in three-dimensional space.

Evan Karatzas explores abstract imagery and mark-making through painting and drawing processes that investigate systems, constraints, and expressive visual structures. Working with acrylic ink and paint on handmade paper and canvas panel, he centers his practice on the concepts of gesture, movement and intersection. His interest in high-contrast imagery and rules-based processes reflects his experience as a visual and interaction designer and his focus on traditional materials and techniques marks a deliberate departure from the digital tools that shaped his professional design work.

Over the course of his 30-year career, Evan launched and led three design consultancies including Proximity Lab, a UX research and design firm based in Portsmouth, NH, which he founded in 2008. He teaches at the Dynamic Media Institute, the graduate design program at MassArt, where he received an MFA in Communication Design. He has also played key roles launching several creative nonprofit ventures—as a founding board member of 3S Artspace and as co-founder and organizer of TEDxPortsmouth.

A coastal New Hampshire native, Evan lives in Durham, NH, with his wife and son. His work can be found at www.plought.com.