Artist Statement

"My work is a conversation between the seen and the felt — between what the eye records and what the body knows."

I work primarily in  oil, combining painting, collage, and drawing to build surfaces that reflect my vision of the piece.  Each painting begins with an intuition — a color, a gesture, a fragment of memory — and grows through a series of additions and subtractions until it feels complete.

The human figure began to be central to my practice when COVID hit. I I felt motivated to examine how people were faring through this pandemic. My figures and faces are not meant to be realistic, but expressionistic. My intent is to portray feelings and images rather than representing people as they look. The camera does a better job at that.

Color is my primary language. I use it boldly, intuitively, sometimes recklessly — trusting that the right combination will unlock something true. I am drawn to the tension between harmony and dissonance, between colors that comfort and colors that unsettle.

Ultimately, I make art because it is an enjoyable way for me to express myself. Each painting is an act of attention — a record of looking, feeling, and responding to the extraordinary complexity of being alive.

— Karma Kitaj, Western Massachusetts and San Miguel de Allende-