Sherry Karver, Solo Exhibition “Flash Fiction” at Kim Foster Gallery, 11/2011 – Catalogue
Foreword by D. Dominick Lombardi

“… might take a year off to travel, but has no idea where to go, & has never been away from home…”

This, among many other fabricated comments by Sherry Karver are superimposed over select subjects as she guides us back to and through the real world. In her art, Karver suggests that life is passing us by as we text, talk and surf the net on our hand held devices, and we should be taking the time to stop, look, listen, and most importantly, imagine. At least for the time we are viewing her seductive works, Karver gets us back in touch with the real world with all its drama and humor.

She begins with a black and white photograph taken at a variety of public places in a handful of cities, most notably Grand Central Station, where endless possibilities unfold. Text is added digitally, then the photographic print is mounted on a 2 5/8″ deep wood panel. With numerous oil glazes, Karver adds color, then coats the final surface with UV resin, a reflective surface that sometimes adds the viewer’s own likeness as part of the work.

The combination of the ages old technique of painting in successive oil glazes, and the use of digital techniques to add text and soften detail where needed, creates a shimmering and alternating mood – a seductiveness that draws you in that I would liken to good cinema – where the actors and director take the time to make us believe.

The end result: Karver breathes life into the nameless: the passers by who we will never get to know or meet. They could be sinners, saviors, saucy or sensitive, and Karver gives us back our front row seat to life.