Karine Rupp-Stanko is an interdisciplinary artist who works primarily with paper, ink and found materials.
Her work focuses on the binary elements that we use to assess our surroundings: natural/manmade, public/private, native/foreign being some of the most obvious.
While exploring the intersections where these binary elements break down, she questions the role that language plays in the process, shaping our experiences and the stories we tell ourselves about our environment and our identity.
An educator at heart, she also holds “social folding” workshops at community events in Saint Paul and Minneapolis on a variety of themes, such as food justice and pollination.
Biography
Karine was born in France, into a multicultural family of environmental activists. An early passion for non-alphabetical writing systems took her to Japan, where she fell in love with washi paper.
In an effort to advocate for more responsible consumption, she uses water-based inks and “scavenged” paper, always reevaluating materials that others might discard, such as junk mail and packaging.
The years she spent studying linguistics shaped the way she thinks of her work, not as an object, but as an act of language.The finished product is rarely meant to last. It is an expression of an ephemeral poetic force and it has one purpose:
To help the public understand, embrace and celebrate our fragile ecosystems (natural, social and built).
Other Qualifications : Japanese to French translator, Mother, Lover, Friend, Teacher, Gardener, Cook, Traveler, Knitter.
