Bio
Karen Jaimes is a Latina artist who was raised single-handedly by her Salvadoran mother in downtown Yonkers, NY, which was an impoverished concrete jungle in the 80s and 90s. Many of her peers were first generation students whose parents emigrated to the city due to instability in their homeland. As the daughter of a Civil War refugee, Karen navigated two cultures and languages in a multicultural city. The non-profit art programs at nearby museums, a loving community of matriarchs, and the well-rounded curriculum of Manhattanville College led her to value arts education, social justice, and community outreach. KJ is an artist-activist-educator who sculpts clay to address sociopolitical issues and question the systems in place. The transhistorical and transcultural nature of clay makes it the perfect material for metaphor.
Karen holds a MFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and a BFA from Manhattanville College with a minor in political science. She is an enthusiastic ceramics teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge of clay’s vast properties that span across many fields, including anthropology, geology, and chemistry. She is a seasoned educator who has worked with people of all ages and learning capacities at community centers, public schools and universities, art centers, museums, and summer camps. She especially loves working with senior citizens and underrepresented folks. Karen employs a therapeutic approach in the classroom and draws out students’ collective knowledge to foster community and connection.
Her sculptures have been exhibited in the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, the Katonah Museum of Art, the Barrett Art Center and the Dorsky Museum of Art among others.
Karen holds a MFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and a BFA from Manhattanville College with a minor in political science. She is an enthusiastic ceramics teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge of clay’s vast properties that span across many fields, including anthropology, geology, and chemistry. She is a seasoned educator who has worked with people of all ages and learning capacities at community centers, public schools and universities, art centers, museums, and summer camps. She especially loves working with senior citizens and underrepresented folks. Karen employs a therapeutic approach in the classroom and draws out students’ collective knowledge to foster community and connection.
Her sculptures have been exhibited in the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, the Katonah Museum of Art, the Barrett Art Center and the Dorsky Museum of Art among others.
publications
2021 “Form or Function at ArtPort Kingston,” Art Spiel, May 28. https://artspiel.org/form-or-function-at-artport-kingston/
2020 MFA Thesis "Of Flesh and Fruit" Link: dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/71205
2019 Now: Press Play, Exhibition catalog, Print.
2019 Export: A Future Under Risk, Exhibition Catalog, Print.
2017 “ArtsNews,” Westchester County Business Journal, April 2017, p. A4.
Link: https://artswestchester.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/03/April2017-ArtsNews-WEB-2-b.pdf
2020 MFA Thesis "Of Flesh and Fruit" Link: dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/71205
2019 Now: Press Play, Exhibition catalog, Print.
2019 Export: A Future Under Risk, Exhibition Catalog, Print.
2017 “ArtsNews,” Westchester County Business Journal, April 2017, p. A4.
Link: https://artswestchester.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/03/April2017-ArtsNews-WEB-2-b.pdf
group exhibitions
2022 Yonkers Arts Weekend, Art Installation, YoHo Artists, Yonkers, NY
2022 Agriculture in the Hudson Valley, Cornell Creative Arts Center, Kingston, NY
2021 State of Emergence, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2021 Form or Function, ArtPort, Kingston, NY
2020 Breaking Through: MFA Thesis Exhibition curated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
2020 New Directions 2020 curated by Nic Brierre Aziz, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2020 F°ormation, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Clay Bouquet, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2019 Now: Press Play curated by Glenn Adamson, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Materialistic, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Sublime Concepts, Curator, Bethany Arts Community, Ossining, NY
2019 Export: A Future Under Risk 2019, Joint Exhibition of International Artists, Mid-Hudson Heritage Center Trolley Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Online Show curated by Frederick Janka on Foundwork.art - an online artist platform for the Contemporary Art Community. Link: foundwork.art/guest-curators/frederick-janka
2018 New Paltz Open Studios Tour, Unison Art Center and SUNY New Paltz Fine Arts Building Rotunda
2018 Signal: Tri-State Juried Exhibition curated by Lumi Tan, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2018 Off the Beaten Track, Westchester Community College Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 In Our Element, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 Clayworks, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 Clay Ways, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2017 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 9th Artist-Member Juried Exhibition, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2016 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2016 Earthly Delights, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2016 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2014 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2013 Open Studios, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2011 Centerpiece for Juried Senior exhibition, Arthur M. Berger Gallery, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
2022 Agriculture in the Hudson Valley, Cornell Creative Arts Center, Kingston, NY
2021 State of Emergence, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2021 Form or Function, ArtPort, Kingston, NY
2020 Breaking Through: MFA Thesis Exhibition curated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
2020 New Directions 2020 curated by Nic Brierre Aziz, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2020 F°ormation, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Clay Bouquet, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2019 Now: Press Play curated by Glenn Adamson, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Materialistic, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Sublime Concepts, Curator, Bethany Arts Community, Ossining, NY
2019 Export: A Future Under Risk 2019, Joint Exhibition of International Artists, Mid-Hudson Heritage Center Trolley Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Online Show curated by Frederick Janka on Foundwork.art - an online artist platform for the Contemporary Art Community. Link: foundwork.art/guest-curators/frederick-janka
2018 New Paltz Open Studios Tour, Unison Art Center and SUNY New Paltz Fine Arts Building Rotunda
2018 Signal: Tri-State Juried Exhibition curated by Lumi Tan, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2018 Off the Beaten Track, Westchester Community College Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 In Our Element, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 Clayworks, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 Clay Ways, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2017 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 9th Artist-Member Juried Exhibition, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2016 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2016 Earthly Delights, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2016 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2014 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2013 Open Studios, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2011 Centerpiece for Juried Senior exhibition, Arthur M. Berger Gallery, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
lectures and workshops
2021 - Present Survey of Ceramics History and Contemporary Practices, SUNY Rockland, Suffern, NY
2020 Contemporary Sculpture, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2019 Survey of Ceramics History, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2012 Art Before Forty: Survival Stories from Younger Artists, First Monday Salon, Bean Runner Cafe, Peekskill, NY
2020 Contemporary Sculpture, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2019 Survey of Ceramics History, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2012 Art Before Forty: Survival Stories from Younger Artists, First Monday Salon, Bean Runner Cafe, Peekskill, NY