Glutton Statement
The work in this series explores identity, form, and process, and blurs the boundaries of painting and sculpture. Using various materials such as parchment paper, paint, muslin, and mylar these works begin to abstract the human body. The stuffed and swaddled forms appear quite visceral in nature, somewhat even grotesque. They also project qualities of warmth, tenderness, intimacy, and fragility like an abstract nude. The work almost begs to be touched and you become bewitched by its voyeuristic appeal. The weighted physicality of the paper or painted surfaces creates an illusion of skin or flesh. By stuffing the skins the pieces take on a gluttonous life of their own.
Peel Statement
This series evolved as an extension of my previous series Swing, which focused on the repetition and juxtaposition of lines and color to convey a visual representation of memory. Peel developed as a sculptural approach to this same concept of creating physical memories - it is a physical and abstract act of layering. The importance of materials specifically the physicality of the parchment paper helped develop this series; I began to think of the layers of paper as abstract layers of memory - peeling them back to reveal these skin-like planes. These planes of memory resemble a book frozen in time, The three-dimensional qualities of these paintings utilize the importance of shadows, extending the pieces further thus activating the space around them.
Swing Statement
Swing is a term I coined referring to the physical embodiment and motion of memory between the conscious and subconscious mind. The true defining aspect of this work is expressed through the weight of line and the gesture of color in a way that juxtaposes each other; the line and the color share this symbiotic relationship. The repetition of the line creates tension or pressure. Some lines become blurred, overlapping each other, illustrating a flux of memory or loss of memory as a physical pattern. Some of the compositions become solely dependent on line evolving into a visual illusion or pattern. Composing these linear structures has become both a meditative practice and an obsession.
Color Shift: Line as Pattern and Form
Working with acrylics has shifted my overall aesthetics - a literal lightness in both color, weight, and mood has evolved within my process. The bold, bright, and energetic colors contrast the heaviness and anxiety-inducing atmosphere of today’s world. By experimenting more with layers, I began to reverse paint the lines on plastic surfaces and incorporated gel-medium to peel the layers off into painted skins and use them as a physical sculptural element - building surfaces, and creating patterned compositions. This methodology of line-making has always been a meditative process - recalling back to my series “Swing” which used line and color to represent a physical representation of memory like a ripple or wave of thoughts.
Paint as Sculpture
The work featured in this exhibition at Real Art Ways explores identity, form, and process which blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture.
My process includes stuffing, layering, folding, and draping acrylic and latex paint skins, paper, and fabric as a way of connecting the physicality of my materials with the fleshiness of the body. The shapes swell and fold, and I’m fascinated by the way paint can be manipulated as an organic sculptural form and yet sometimes behaves in unexpected ways. By stuffing these forms, they can be perceived as more human and therefore more relatable. These works project qualities of power, tenderness, intimacy, and fragility, which all help give the work life. There’s also a vague erotic suggestion and voyeuristic appeal in seeing these abstract gluttonous forms exposed – the work almost begs to be touched.
Bio
Karl Goulet was born and raised in northwest Connecticut. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, in 2014. In 2012 Goulet began an internship at Five Points Gallery, where he has grown through the ranks and is currently the full-time Gallery Director and co-curator at Five Points Gallery, the flagship location of the Five Points Center for the Visual Arts. As a curator, Goulet has helped put together over 100 group and solo exhibitions at Five Points Gallery, working alongside hundreds of artists from across the world. Outside of Five Points, Goulet has served as juror and curator for multiple exhibitions throughout CT including, spaces such as The Warner Theatre, Melanie Carr Gallery, Trinity Community Gallery, etc. With his close connections to the arts in Connecticut, Goulet has had the opportunity to work with the DECD, Connecticut Office of the Arts, as a juror for Public Art in 2018 and as a judge for the Litchfield Hills Creative Awards in 2019. Also in 2019, he was selected to speak on a three-person panel on the role of artists in the community and as an artist and activist at the University of Hartford’s Alumni Forum.
As an emerging-exhibiting artist, Goulet creates work across multiple disciplines including painting, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media. Drawn to the physicality of materials, and with a love of process, he creates layered abstract forms that embody concepts of identity and memory. Goulet has exhibited his work nationally He is a member of the Five Points Launchpad. In 2021, he was awarded an Emerging Recognition Fellowship Award from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2014
BFA in Painting, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut
2011
Associates Degree in Fine Arts, Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, Connecticut
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2023
Real Wall Installation, Curated by David Borawski, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2020
Paper as Metaphor, Curated by Matt Best, Three Rivers Gallery, Norwich, CT (2-person show)
This Will Only Hurt a Little, Hudson on Pratt Gallery, Hartford, CT (solo)
2017
Ivory and Obsidian, Northwestern Connecticut Community College Gallery, Winsted, CT (solo)
Two Dogs, Cornwall Library Art Gallery, Cornwall, CT (solo)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Launchpad 2022, Five Points Annex Gallery, Torrington, CT
2021
Shape in All Its Forms, SITE: Brooklyn Gallery, NY
Paint 2021, Curated by Michelle Y. Loh, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT
Life Goes On…, Five Points Annex, Torrington, CT
USPS Art Project, Greenly Arts Space, Signal Hill, CA
Launchpad 2021, Five Points Annex Gallery, Torrington, CT
2020
ART in PLACE, Online Exhibition, Standard Space, Sharon, CT (JUNE 2020)
All of This is Who I Am…, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT
USPS Art Project Exhibition, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
Think•Again, Five Points Annex, Torrington, CT
USPS Art Project Exhibition, InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA
2019
Today//Tomorrow, Curated by Erin Cunliffe, FP Annex, Torrington, CT
Expanded Vocabularies, Curated by Melanie Carr, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
Ear to the Ground, Curated by Julie Torres, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
In.Sight, Curated by Jessica Fallis, Rose Orelup, FP Annex, Torrington, CT
2018
And By Necessity, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex, CT
For Lack of Better Words, Curated by Zeb Mayer, Washington Art Association, Washington, CT
2017
New New, FP Annex Gallery, Torrington, CT
FPG Biennial Juried Exhibition, Juried by Joe Fig, Torrington, CT
Art Heist: Five Points Gallery, Torrington CT.
2016
Incubator Artists, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
Art Heist: Five Points Gallery, Torrington CT.
2014
The Practice and the Process, Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT
Curating Experience
2017- Present - Co-curator for all exhibitions - Five Points Arts, Torrington, CT
2021
Juror - CT Regional Scholastic Art Awards
2020
Think Again, Five Points Annex, Torrington, CT
2019
Curator for Art in the Orchards 2 at Shepaug Crossing, Private Residence, Bantam, CT
2018
Curator, And By Necessity, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex, CT
Curator for Art in the Orchards at Shepaug Crossing, Private Residence, Bantam, CT
2017
Co-curator With Krista Narciso - Process & Product, Nancy Marine Theatre Lobby, Warner Theatre, Torrington, CT
Co-juror - Memorial Day Juried Show, Trinity Church Gallery, Lime Rock, CT
2016
Curator - Incubator Artists exhibition, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
Awards
2021
Emerging Artist Recognition Fellowship Award, Connecticut Office of the Arts, DECD
Relevant Work Experience
2013 – Present: Five Points Arts, Torrington CT
Current Position: Gallery Director, Co-curator & Art Handler for all exhibitions.
Former Positions: Gallery Manager, Gallery Assistant, Intern, Volunteer
2016-17
Public Arts Juror for the Joyner Health and Science Center, NCCC, via the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Department of Economic and Community Development, Hartford, CT
Speaking Engagements
2019
Panel, Expanded Vocabularies Artist Talk, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
Panel, “Artist as Activist/Artists in the Community”, Hartford Art School Alumni Forum, West Hartford CT
2018
And By Necessity: A Critical Conversation, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex, CT
Team Success Scholars Panel, NCCC, Winsted, CT
2016
Artists' Conversation: Incubator Artists, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
Group Initiatives
2017-Present
Member of the Five Points Launchpad Initiative
2016
Founding Member, Five Points Incubator, Torrington, CT
Selected Collections
Printmaking Archive, Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT
Various private collections.