Herd About The Prairie

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Karman Rheault

Moorhead. MN
701-361-6008
karman@finekarma.com

www.finekarma.com

Spirits of the Prairie

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Rheault’s bison features bright, colorful spiritual women painted on the bison.

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A native of Bismarck, ND, Karman began her collegiate education at Moorhead State University in 1991. After completing a year and a half there, Karman spent three years in the art program at Southern Illinois University before returning to Moorhead State to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998. She continues to reside in Moorhead, MN. While her concentration was in sculptural ceramics, Karman has also worked in pottery, oil painting, natural sculpture, and for the past eight years she has been inspired to paint with acrylics. She has been a member of the artist co-op, Gallery 4, LTD, since 2003.

“I’ve always been intrigued by art and its ability to communicate to our subconscious. We may be drawn or spoken to by a particular painting or piece of music and be unsure why we are overcome by emotion. Perhaps it is because subconsciously we are connecting to that piece on a level we are unable to understand.

Most of my paintings include abstract figures. I find the female figure to be beautiful in all of its different forms. I abstract them because I feel that we should be defined by more than just our physical being. If we allow ourselves to look deeper, through the physical layers, we may see our true selves and the ethereal sides of others.” –Karman Rheault

Artist Statement:
When I first heard about the “Herd about the Prairie” project I was excited about the possibility of being part of it! The challenge of painting something three dimensional and of such grand size was very enticing to me.

When I received the fiberglass sculpture and began the process of drawing out the design, it dawned on me exactly how much surface area I would be covering. I knew that I had many hours ahead of me, and I was relieved that I had nearly three months to accomplish this feat.

It was wonderful having this evolving creature in my studio. I named the bison “Gertie” because of his large girth. Shortly after his arrival Gertie became a member of our family. With three young girls in the house and lots of imagination, Gertie has had many adventures and has spent countless hours playing with my four year old as I painted.

I truly enjoyed every minute of the process. Every day that I painted on Gertie brought him more to life with more color and more soul.

The theme that I chose for my bison was “Spirits of the Prairie.”
I had once heard that in some Native American cultures it is believed that when a native woman passes away her spirit goes into a bison. I have been painting women spirit figures for years so I loved the idea of putting the bison and the spirits together as the legend had suggested.