Karlie King is a mixed media visual artist from Regina, Saskatchewan who is known for her pottery, clay pieces and yarn bombing. She has been featured in numerous solo as well as group exhibitions across Canada.
King is a freelance artist and teaches pottery classes at The Cathedral Art School.
She is also involved with the Urban Canvas Downtown Regina Public Art Program which she says, “Adds life to the downtown and is like a plant in a room – it just adds life. It enlivens the space but also connects people.”
She says most of her work is intuitive and comes straight from her heart, with the heart a recurring theme in her creations. “The heart dominates,” she says, so what a great privilege to find King increasing the speed of the heart in The Queen City – in Downtown Regina. King’s creativity connects people and places once again with her sidewalk art which is so full of pulse!
Concentric ring patterns are another recurring theme and are quite prevalent in King’s pottery. The ring patterns can also be found in her newest & latest piece – a reimagined sidewalk – in the lane that runs from Hamilton Street (behind Dojo Ramen in the Avord Tower) to Scarth Street (next to The Copper Kettle).
She says she really enjoyed working and painting the cement alley and discovered that cement is actually an extension of her pottery – just on pavement. She used a different type of paint on its surface which should make her kaleidoscopic street art, reminiscent of Man Ray’s “Spiral Swirl”, last for years.
King has found her inspiration in the traditional Japanese Circles of Zen Gardens which contain round, spiral or rippled patterns. Zen gardens, also known as karesansui, were originally created as places for Buddhist monks to meditate and absorb the teachings of the Buddha. These gardens typically contain rocks, gravel and/or sand to recreate the essence of nature. The swirling patterns or lines can also have a calming effect on the mind. Looking at the water like ripples, can also help you focus, and that is exactly what King’s white & bright lime green swirls give – a sense of tranquility – a place for peacefulness, a place for meditation.
Besides focusing on art, King is busy with partner Maria Lila and a dedicated mother of two.
King doesn’t stop with her own work; she offers a series of short videos suitable for anyone keen on learning from her demonstrations of quick and easy crafts using everyday household objects. Check out “Karlie’s Quick Crafts – Creative City Centre” on YouTube.
You can find today’s featured artist on: Instagram
King has not given this artwork a name yet. So, what would you call it?
Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID) invites you to take a stroll down the lane and see where it takes you!
A passerby asked King if the idea of the pavement artwork came from the 1988 movie “Beetlejuice”.
For me, the intense energy of this trippy art and all the hanging lights take me back and get me bouncing to Eddy Grant’s 1983 hit “Electric Avenue” – “We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue, and then we’ll take it higher! Oh no!”
The other week I popped into Dojo Ramen on Hamilton Street to reserve a table for an upcoming Saturday. On my way back to RDBID, I met two Indigenous men going my way in the wonderful wacky alley. We got talking. They told me they were heading to a patio on Scarth Street to enjoy a meal and some sunshine. As we walked together, we talked a bit about King’s artwork. We all stepped over the freshly painted green spirals, and the men laughed and said it reminded them of a Round Dance – a Friendship Dance. We all spun a few times and giggled before saying goodbye and heading off into our different directions downtown.
What words, ideas or thoughts fill your heads & hearts as you experience King’s artworks – her concentric ring patterns? What feelings does the artistic alley conjure for you? Does it summon a song? A type of music? Does it make you want to dance? What kind of dance? How do you connect with Karlie King’s concentric spins? How does King “draw” you into her loopy vortex?
We invite you to contribute your words, names & sensations with RDBID in the social media profiles below so we can add your experiences.
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-andi