American Masters · Karen LaMonte
This is one of the favorite exhibitions that we have had at Imagine Museum, featuring the notable contemporary glass artist Karen LaMonte. Throughout her career LaMonte has used clothing to explore the body without depicting the body.
“The act of making sculpture is finding a path between ideas and their physical expression, building a connection between the immaterial world of thoughts and the material world.”— Karen LaMonte
“It is good to face challenges in your youth. He who has never suffered will not sufficiently temper his character.”— Yamamoto Tsunetomo
“Clothing both protects and projects. It is an armor and costume, plumage and camouflage.”— Karen LaMonte
“What did you come here to accomplish? I came here to become a better person than I was at birth. I came to die with a soul that is nobler and purer than the one I was born into, no matter how slight the improvement.”— Kazuo Inamori
“It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray — of the mind, do not be mindless.”— Takuan Soho
“The undisturbed mind is like the calm body of water reflecting the brilliance of the moon. Empty the mind and you will realize the undisturbed mind.”— Yagyu Jubei Mitsuyoshi
“In all cultures, clothing is an unspoken language; but the Kimono is perhaps the most codified. Every aspect of its design — including imagery, sleeve length, and obi type and tie — is highly significant, communicating volumes about the wearer.”— Karen LaMonte
“In eliminating the defining curves of the female body, making it uniform and neutral, the kimono literally erases the self and individuality, transcending the corporeal beauty of the wearer.”— Karen LaMonte
“As an exercise, I sometimes make the same object in four different materials. I actually start seeing my ideas from different angles. It’s very self-educational.”— Karen LaMonte
“Wearing a kimono is like wearing a piece of art that moves with you.”— Unknown
“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one and it would not be a wasted life.”— The Last Samurai
“In a kimono, every thread weaves a tale of tradition and artistry.”— Unknown
“There is some comfort in the emptiness of the sea, no past, no future.”— The Last Samurai