Karen Hampton: Dots In The Universe

Karen Hampton is an internationally recognized conceptual artist, who addresses issues of colorism and kinship within the African American community. Hampton’s art practice is the synthesis of memory, history, time, and cloth. She has found that working with historical narratives provides a vehicle to bring silenced voices into the American landscape. Dating back to her early childhood, cloth, and photographic image have been a part of her consciousness.

A student of cultural relationships, Hampton seeks to break through stereotypes and address issues related to being an African American woman. Steeped in oral history, her artwork is an expression of the narrative. Frequently referring to herself as a griot (storyteller), she imparts conceptualized stories about the “other” in society. Through her artwork, Hampton transcends traditional storytelling and reframes the story to include frequently forgotten voices. Hampton’s training is in the fiber arts and anthropology. She is a weaver, dyer, painter, embroiderer, and storyteller. The canvas of her artwork is a coarsely woven cloth that is aged and imbued with conceptualized images of a forgotten part of the American story. Using images and text, she embeds the cloth with the hopes and visions of African American lives, telling ancestral stories from her perspective.