KAREN MADDEN – METAL SCULPTOR Karen’s website
	I pursued my education in art by working with my hands and pulling from my career background in science and math. Working with metal is a very hands on experience for me. It also requires a certain amount of science and math to get the right look.  Feeling the metal twist, bend, and welding it together provides for me the tools and roadmap for creativity. With the beauty of abstract art coming from the use of shapes, forms, colors and textures, I gather energy by coaxing the metal into forms that then goes back into the piece the result being movement. My pieces have no set boundaries which reflects complexity but yet are graceful and thoughtful in the moment. I look to abstract art not to represent a specific object but rather to provoke a thought. The observer will see what they want to see – I’m only trying to get them to think about it.
One of my favorite projects
		One of my favorite projects to create are suns.  I’ve had several commissions for specific color combinations of metal and geodes but then the rest is up to me as to how I make the overall sculpture interesting. Combining the metal with a stone geode gives a snap to the sun, colorful. I’ve made suns using milk can covers, sheet metal.
During this year’s ARTmostNY event
	During the ARTmostNY tour this year, I will be working on a sun for my upcoming show in August at the Poughkeepsie Public library. I will be cutting, bending, grinding and welding.