Kim Schrag 

This is a text I wrote for the exhbit, Looking Under the Rug, 2014, at Corners Gallery in Ithaca, NY.

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Opening up the question

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When I was in graduate school at Cornell (in the 80’s) the philosophical emphasis in Art was on formal concerns, Art about Art.  In the first group critique, we were looking at a large tree limb displayed on the ground. The sculptor had transformed it slightly, but its natural identity was dominant.  One student said, “What does this have to do with the human condition?”  My internal reaction was very strong to this question.  I thought, “Why does it need to be about the human condition? This is Art, not social criticism.”  However I was also surprised at my reaction and it set me to ask the question – what is the human condition? Does art need to address it? 

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As the years have gone by and I have approached art in many ways, I have found that even in my most abstract work the human condition has found its place. Often I was the only one who might know this, except through the hint of a title.  In the last few years I have pushed the human being to take a central role as actor in the images.  Once I did that, then the work couldn’t help but speak more openly about the human experience. 

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What does it mean to be human? These 14 paintings, created in the last year probe this question. They are of course an interpretation of my own experience, my reactions, my feelings, my observations, but to be human, let alone to be an artist, is to be in communication, in dialogue with others. I share my art with you, hoping that in doing so, a door to a common reality will be opened for us and we will explore Life together.

Kim Schrag - 2014