About Karmen
ART INTERESTS
Assemblage and collage, painting, murals and public art, ephemeral and living art, environmental art
CURRENT SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS
Next Gallery Viva Casa Bonita, Best in Show, February and March 2020, Lakewood, CO
PAST SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS
Globeville Riverfront Arts Center Cabinet of Curiosties and Oddities, curator, November and December, 2019, Denver, CO
Denver Open Media June and July, 2019, Denver, CO
Globeville Riverfront Arts Center Awesomeblage! Solo exhibit, March, 2019, Denver, CO
Denver Modernism Show Miss Modernism 2019/2020, Denver, CO
Denver Oddities and Curiosities Show, displayed and sold a variety of curious assemblage pieces and terrariums, 2018, Denver, CO
Pasternack’s Art Hub, Mural Fest, mountain mural, community favorite, August, 2018, Lakewood, CO
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Owner, Karmen’s Gardens, Art and terrariums, offering make-your-own garden classes and booths for art fes vals and fairs, August 2016 – June 2019
Manager, Pasternack’s Art Hub Holiday Market, gallery and art shop, handled sales, setup, managing ar sts, November 2018-January 2019
MEMBERSHIPS / AFFILIATIONS
Globeville Riverfront Arts Center
RiNO Art District
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Environmental history, studying the interactions between people and their environment, creating visual and multimedia messages addressing environmental and societal issues
EDUCATION
BA in Environmental Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2012 Cum Laude
PUBLICATIONS
Franklin, Karmen. “Digging the Old West.” Illustrated history of water projects in Colorado.
ISBN: 0615531482
HONORS / AWARDS
Best in Show, Viva Casa Bonita, Next Gallery, 2020
Thompson Award for Western American Writing, Center of the American West, University of Colorado, 2011
BIOGRAPHY
Karmen was born in Denver and grew up surrounded by supportive, creative people. Her grandfather, Mahlon Kirk, created kinetic art from recycled materials, often while answering Karmen's neverending questions. In the 1980s, she visited her great uncle, Henry Luehr in Pettibone, North Dakota, where he built an 8-story-tall pagoda by recycling the wood and nails from an old grain silo. Henry filled his creation with strange assemblages of art. Karmen was fascinated by the idea of upcyling old junk into absurd art. In the 1990s, her aunt, Janet Runger, took to creating art from her vast collection of miniatures, eventually introducing Karmen to many of the techniques that she uses in her art today.
After marrying and having a child, Karmen sought a degree in environmental studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder, focusing on the environmental history of the American West. Her research there left her pondering the boundaries between nature and humanity, and the nature of art itself.
In 2011, Karmen wrote Digging the Old West: How Dams and Ditches Sculpted an American Landscape. This book explored the relationship between humans and nature, and used the work of over 40 artists to explain the physical and cultural development of Denver, Boulder, and the areas between.
While Karmen was always drawn to surrealist art, she struggled to find the right medium to express her weird side. For a time, she was drawn to fractals, discovering patterns in mathematical equations that matched patterns in nature. Using a computer to create left her wanting a more hands-on approach. Eventually, she discovered that combining paint with collage brought out the effect she desired. Always an avid collector, Karmen was delighted to find that she could create three dimensional works by gluing found objects together. This brought everything together: curiosity, nature and humanity, art, and whimsy. At that point Karmen knew she was born to create.
karmen.lee.franklin@gmail.com
(720) 364-2655