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Karen Gunderson and the Subtle Complexity of Black

The artist's 40-year career has been defined by experimentation, beginning with early studies of clouds that quickly evolved into the distinctive kinetic paintings for which she is known.

Karen Gunderson loves water. Whether boating north up the Hudson River or riding a ferry across Lake Michigan, she’ll always leave her warm, comfortable seat and make her way to the bow to see the waves part before her. “In sunlight, water can take on color and appear blue or green,” Gunderson tells Observer. “But, when you look down in the shadows below the boat, the water is black.”

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Gunderson is very much at home in the black, manipulating it in shades and values unlike any other artist working today. In the 21st Century, it’s easy to suggest artists have already mastered all possible forms of traditional, analog painting. Whether the medium is oil, acrylic, tempera, ink, etc., the cooperation of paint, brush and palette knife is thoroughly explored and perhaps all but exhausted. All creators can do to explore new frontiers in 2026 is pick up a tablet with Procreate installed. But 82-year-old Gunderson does not accept that premise. Through her ongoing explorations, she has invented a groundbreaking method of manipulating paint, light........

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