Winner of the 2011 Common Ground:
Art Exhibition and Prize

Will Karp, is this year’s winner of the Common Ground Art exhibit, his piece, entitled “Common Ground Art in the City Different,” portrayed various manhole covers photographed throughout Santa Fe.

Karp, a self-taught artist, looked forward to the time when he could pursue his interests in art which included photography, painting, and printmaking worked. Before moving to Santa Fe in 2004, he worked for many years as a business planner for a large aerospace corporation, and successfully operated a web design business, which he continues to operate in Santa Fe. “Living in New Mexico has afforded me the opportunity to view and experience art in a whole new way, while expanding my boundaries of creativity as well,” he states.

Karp has shown his work at a Wells Fargo Bank Solo Exhibit; the Red Dot Gallery Back Street Bistro Exhibit; Tybie Davis Satin Gallery/Santa Fe Public Library Solo Exhibit; Fuller Art Center Exhibit and Gallery Shop; Santa Fe Community College Group Show. His work can be found online at www.willkarp.com

In his artist statement, Will Karp describes himself and his work: “My whole life I have photographed, painted, sketched, and constructed mixed media. For me, visual art is a way of expressing myself in a tangible form. Being color-blind has posed some challenges, and has perhaps influenced my fascination with viewing my world and space foremost as combinations of patterns, shapes, and lines. My images reflect the dedication to finding the unique artistic aspect of simple objects at home or outdoors, natural or architectural, even the pavement I walk on. I find art all around me. I like to define “art” as the science of “mark-making.” Whether two-dimensional or three-dimensional, every camera click, mouse stroke, brush movement, drip, cut, impression, smear, scratch, squeeze or splatter is an intentional effort at making marks that deliver a message. Photography as an art offers the opportunity to view a composition, capture it, and alter it digitally to produce an effect that makes it unique. The possibilities of mark-making are endless.