Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Cadiero-Kaplan.
Hi Karen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My career and passion for 40 years has been in education, from teaching Special Education to English as a Second Language in public schools and community college more than 20 years. This path led me to become a professor of Education at San Diego State University leading programs in language policy and teacher education. In all these roles creating art has been an essential element for my personal practice and in my teaching. Throughout my career I always was drawn to the arts, most specifically ceramic art. I began taking classes at community college and continued to enroll in workshops and eventually found my way to Clay Associates where I honed my hand building skills and continue to be inspired and mentored by my teacher Eric Woods.
In my career I traveled extensively to central Mexico and Spain, whenever I traveled I met artists and was always intrigued by the intricate designs and types of clays that felt so grounded in earth and indigenous wisdom. I have thousands of photographs and notes and more recently I’ve been traveling to New Zealand where I have also found much influence in my work. I retired from San Diego State in 2017 and found myself living in New England to help my Mom. At that time I created a studio, the first time I had a space of my own to truly dive into my art. I was able to hone my craft and became fascinated with creating bowls that had earth elements, and at that time I also began painting with acrylics and working in mixed media to create abstract art that began as therapy for grief and emerged as its own form of story telling and healing.
Today, I have a studio in Hillcrest, it is a small space where I am able to work and be inspired by other artists. I still work mostly in clay and find it to be healing and grounding to create from slabs and coils. I use a lot of texture in my work with my intentions to be on healing and story telling. I write poetry and sometimes tell the stories around my pieces which adds a layer of meaning for both myself and the viewer. I also teach workshops in hand building and created a practice called Art & Soul, where I guide small groups through a guided meditation and then we create art in community. I find that art is literacy, art is therapy and art is a process of finding ourselves, our voice and our truth. When we allow the clay to speak and we listen with our body over our mind we connect to deep wisdom. As you can see, for me working in clay is a meditative practice, a practice for anyone who is seeking peace in these chaotic times.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I believe the journey of my art follows the journey of my life, where there are twists and turns in the road that open to opportunities and sometimes hitting road blocks, obstacles and detours. With that, like my art there are incredible surprises (happy accidents where glazes merge to a most magical color that you never imagined) as well as profound losses (things blowing up in the kiln or colors not appearing where you had intended).
I have found that my journey in art has been the thread that has kept me grounded throughout my life. When I have had the most challenges in my life my art has been my way to release stress, process grief and express emotions. I also find great joy in creating and watching others as they create in my workshops and also those who enter my studio space and feel a sense of joy and light. The true struggles for me are finding those spaces to share my art and to push myself to create larger scale pieces and find my way to sharing my art in more public spaces, that is the challenge I face now.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
This is a hard question for me, as I feel that all I create is an infusion of the energies that surround me in the world and that also come through me. I am a very spiritual person in that I create not from a clear sense in my mind of what I will make, but from a meditative space that I’m not always able to explain in words. I would say that I am known for creating a space that is welcoming and tactile. I make mostly decorative bowls and vases and unusual cups. I call my bowls medicine bowls as they can be used in ceremony and also are made with intentions of healing from within.
I find great joy in creating pieces for wall hangings from the scraps of other pieces and textures that reflect the elements of the earth. So many of my pieces are spontaneous in nature. I have a process where I roll out a slab of clay and allow the clay to tell me where we are to go. My work is truly a conversation with spirit and earth. I am a very intuitive artist and that is what I believe I specialize in, is creating as a channel to bring pieces into this world that cannot be replicated and evoke a way of being and knowing that brings joy and a way out of the chaos of life.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can find me at my studio located at The Studio Door, Hillcrest 3867 Fourth Avenue and also via my website wisdomcollective.net, instagram wisdomcollective.kc or email karen@wisdomcollective.net. I also have a space on Substack where I share my writing and art: https://cadierokaplan.substack.com.
I am open to creative collaborations with other artists and community members who are interested in practices of healing through the arts
I am looking now for a sponsor or community group that would like to create a collective tile mural where people of all ages can participate. I have a vision to create a community mural out of tiles that focus on what it means to be safe in the world, What images, words, textures, sounds ensure us we are safe? I would like to do this in an area of San Diego or across the border in a community where safety is a concern. I am placing this here as a call to those who wish to find an outdoor space to bring all ages together to create these tiles that will emerge to tell our human story of not being silenced and that joy can conquer hate when we come together to create.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wisdomcollective.net/art-soul
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisdomcollective.kc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wisdomcollective.kc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cadierokaplan/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wisdomcollective.karenck
