“Ventilate expresses the hopes and thoughts of people of diverse location, history, and experience. A retrospective of collaborative works created over several decades, this collection contains contributions made by hundreds of people answering in each new piece a guiding question posed by me. A few works contain my more personal reflections. All pieces are the result of a studio practice of dialogue and collaboration, both from conversation with a broad community circle as well as those created in solitude at my easel. Often in moments of meaningful exchange a disruption of familiar ideas and assumptions takes place, paradigms are questioned, and yet courage can somehow be found to examine challenging issues and to admit the need to think differently — a long, slow, and lifelong work for us all.
Today’s world shifts ever more rapidly. It seems as if no one is spared the unsettling sense of shaking ground — whether pertaining to our beloved earth, to our connection with one another, or to global peace. It is my hope that these pieces provoke us all to make space for fresh thinking as we adjust and try to find our way. May we grow in our capacity to walk gently and generously wherever we find ourselves, and in our willingness to make room around our tables for differences, dialogue, uncertainty and discovery.”
– Karen Taming-Paton
About the Artist:
Born in Smithers, British Columbia, Karen and her 5 brothers grew up in a lively household with noisy mealtimes and Dutch immigrant parents who dared travel with them across the country in a station wagon without seatbelts. She and her family lived in various places in Canada and the U.S.
Karen graduated from the University of Waterloo with a major in environmental studies and a minor in fine arts. Her interests led her to work outdoors with various environmental organizations. Her years of teaching high school visual arts informs her current work as she considers what it is that drives imagery.