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.

 

Flesh - Gluttony - Power

The work featured in this exhibition at Real Art Ways explores identity, form, and process which blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture.

These colorful, gluttonous works glorify larger bodies - bodies that aren’t typically represented or appreciated in our society. There is a powerful negative public mentality that plus-sized bodies are shameful or undesired and should be hidden or covered which has always tormented me. I want to use this series to embrace a change in mentality and to become more comfortable in my own skin by revealing and emphasizing the power of fat and flesh. 

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

Co-Curator, Five Points Gallery: January 2017 - Present

2018

Curator, And By Necessity, Melanie Carr Gallery, Essex, CT

2017

Juror - NCCC Exhibition: Nancy Marine Theatre Lobby, Warner Theatre, Torrington, CT

Juror - Memorial Day Juried Show, Trinity Gallery, Lime Rock, CT

2016

Curator - Incubator Artists, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT



Awards

2021

Emerging Artist Recognition Fellowship Award, Connecticut Office of the Arts, DECD



Relevant Work Experience

2021-Present

Gallery Director, Five Points Arts, Torrington, CT

2014-Present

Gallery Manager/ Curator, Five Points Arts, Torrington, CT

2016-17

Public Art Reviewer, NCCC Joyner Health and Science Center, 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

Member, Five Points Incubator Space, Torrington, CT

 

Selected Collections

Printmaking Archive, Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT

Various private collections.