Karen Fitzgerald is fascinated by roundness, which is clear to anyone seeing her work. For the past 30 years, she has worked exclusively in the tondo form, a Renaissance term that derives from the Italian rotondo (“round”) and is used to depict a circular work of art.
According to Fitzgerald, this circular form is the right container for what she’s saying, noting that roundness is fundamental to her visual thinking. “The form is uniquely able to convey an essence of wholeness, interconnection, and metaphysical purpose,” she reflects on her website.
Her fascination with roundness is also reflected in her chosen subjects and themes. For the past 5 years, Fitzgerald’s work has often referenced the moon, explaining that the ideas that stem from it seem in-exhaustible. “The cycles this orb transits, and the myriad manifestations of its appearances embody the persistence of change, the agitation of energy that we live within,” she writes. As such, Fitzgerald’s work is dynamic and spiritual to its core.
“My work is contemporary: it utilizes aspects of the language traditions of both representational as well as abstract art,” she further relayed in an interview with Entertainment Vine. “All of my work is inspired by the natural world, and especially the subtle, often invisible energies that emanate from and comprise the world we are embedded in.”
When it comes to her style, Fitzgerald’s techniques have changed over the years. “My style is a pattern of growth that has been with me since I was sixteen,” she notes. “Over the years there were many refinements: from working with watercolor to working in oil.”
Since 2006, she’s also added a gilded touch to her work. According to Fitzgerald, paint is added on top of a gilded surface, or gilding is used within the painting. The gilding, (whether copper, silver, 23k, 21k, or 12k gold), says the artist, provides a distinctly “other-worldly” space.
The end result is both mystical and inviting. Take a closer look!
