Artist talks mental illness, acceptance with works
LOUISVILLE ー At first glance, the painted monsters around the booth of DK Creations seemed like an appropriate addition to the artist’s unique style, but after learning their story, the horned, wonky-eyed creatures had a deeper significance.
Karen Grantz, the artist behind DK Creations, has spent the majority of her career working as a mental health professional after switching her focus from graphic design to psychology in college.
When she obtained her graduate degree in psychology, art became an off-and-on hobby for Grantz, where she’d go years without painting before picking it up again. It was only two years ago that Grantz began selling her work for the first time, at the encouragement of her teenage daughter, who wanted to sell her own art.
Grantz’s primary mediums are acrylic paint on panel, canvas, or wood scraps and art quilting. The artist is also working to incorporate fabric into her paintings to enhance the depth of texture.
“I joke that I’m a developing artist because I’m still developing what I want to do,” Grantz said, explaining that she allows her art to go in different directions.
One direction that Grantz has taken her art includes the aforementioned painted monsters that represent the internal struggles individuals face on a daily basis but may try to push away.
“There's this monster, that isn't like a scary freaky monster, but just this kind of uncomfortable, maybe stinky thing that you would prefer not to hang out with,” Grantz said.
The idea for the monsters was inspired by Grantz’s work in the mental health profession, specifically a type of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, where the focus is on learning to coexist with certain thoughts deriving from mental illnesses instead of solely trying to change them.
“It's not going to go away, and as long as you're trying to spend half your time pushing it away, you're not really living life. So it's kind of this, how do I accept what I have? How do I live with what I have, and commit to living my life in a full way, consistent with my values?” Grantz said.
In the monster paintings, the creatures are depicted smiling with their host as if posing for a portrait. A woman has her hand placed on the shoulder of her monster in one piece, the monster standing on stilts to reach the height of the woman. In another piece, the monster and human are walking hand in hand.
In addition to the acrylic paintings of monsters, Grantz sells magnets where the creatures encompass a question such as “R u sure?” or “What if?” representing intrusive thoughts or obsessions.
In her mental health work, Grantz has specialized in working with patients with OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, a mental disorder where individuals get caught in a cycle of obsessing over an unwanted intrusive thought and trying to rid themselves of the obsession by completing certain behaviors, or compulsions.
The goal of the magnets is not to encourage people second-guessing themselves, Grantz said. Instead, the idea is for people to be able to associate those impulsive thoughts with their monsters.
“For those patients, they've got this monster, this constant, like, what if?... you have to learn how to recognize that it doesn't know what it's talking about. It's either scared or just making stuff up,” Grantz explained.
The monsters are only a small part of the work of DK Creations. The artist has a beautiful style of portraits that she completes both with paint and with quilting, and sometimes with a combination of both.
Many of Grantz's works include inspirational quotes, something that she hopes can touch other people who may need to hear it.
“When I've had difficult times with my own lived experience with mental health, a lot of times, what has kept me going is a little sign or a little quote or a little card or something that I held on to. And so I've tried to kind of make those things that might mean something to somebody,” Grantz said.
While DK Creations initially formed as a collaboration with her daughter, it has shifted to just being Grantz's art with her daughter off to college.
Grantz has taken part in several art fairs in the last two years, including Butchertown Art Fair and Big Four Arts Festival.
This is the artist’s first dive into the art scene, and she said it's been wonderful to see the responses to her work.
In November, the artist will have her work shown at Lex Tee Ton, a boutique and gift shop in Lexington, as the shop's highlighted artist of the month. Grantz will be at the shop on Nov. 15 as part of LexArts HOP.
DK Creations can be found on Instagram @dkcreations_fiber_and_arts and Facebook at DK Creations Fiber and Arts.
