Karen Joan Topping Artist Statement:

Karen Joan Topping is an artist working to explore and exploit metaphorical and narrative content by juxtaposing found objects, mass produced material and original handcraft. Latent symbolic content is teased out of the arrangements exposing the themes of; childlike innocence, metamorphosis and loneliness, pop culture, religion, and science. The proximity of the mass-produced to the more classic archaeological qualities of found objects and handicraft implies a personal secret narrative, yet as a whole her installations never stray from their acknowledgment of public perception and memory.

Viewers are lured into investigating the sculptures or installations through the use of recognizable and occasionally organic materials. Manufactured materials like clear vinyl fabric, lollipops and plastic Easter eggs are used alongside materials like dried leaves and sand. She strives to use items that are seductive because of their tactile qualities as well objects capable of directing a viewer to explore shared cultural anecdotes and personal recollections. Creating an engaging and approachable installation that is provocative and non- threatening is of great importance. Karen has worked in the production of independent film, live theater and keeps a web log of local live music performances. In studying the use of space, timing and energy in live performance her installations and stand-alone sculptures are often designed to tempt the `viewer' into interacting with the piece on a physical level first and foremost. Techniques like sewing, collage and photography are employed to make the works palpably attractive in the hope that once physically engaged, intellectual and emotional engagement will follow.

The process of choosing the objects and materials in any individual work is a complex dialogue with experience and the specific site of the work. For instance, the sculpture "The Accident" was inspired when the artist happened upon a dropped, dirty and abandoned lollipop. In "the longest march" part of Washington Project for the Arts/Corcoran (WPA/C's) CornerViews in 2003 a retail storefront was transformed by filling it with twelve custom, hand-sewn, human-size, clear vinyl robots suspended throughout the run of the exhibition space. Six of the robots were filled with office implements and other objects associated with professional career climbers. The other six robots were filled with toys and other items associated with children. For the exhibit "Traveling with Gulliver", literature became the setting. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels became a metaphorical site for the presentation the series of Easter egg sculptures that she has been working with since 2000.

Karen Joan Topping received her BFA in painting from American University in 1993. She has participated in programs at Chautauqua Institution in New York; FAMU University in the Czech Republic and the Academia Del Arti De Pietro Vannucci in Italy. In addition to the WPA/C, in the Washington DC metro area she has shown work with District of Ladies, District of Columbia Arts Center (DCAC), Art-O- Matic, Northern Virginia Community College, Art Registry International and Touchstone Gallery.