By Mary Lee Pappas / Star correspondent
"Some of it looks otherworldly, so you could almost get a sci-fi take on it," says Indianapolis artist Carla Knopp. The two pieces behind her are part of her show that begins today at the Harrison Center for the Arts. - FRANK ESPICH / The Star
Knopp worked on the Art in Motion project in 2003, in which painted race cars were displayed throughout the city. This one was called "Botany in Motion." - Kelly Wilkinson / The Star
Artist Carla Knopp has managed to stay under the radar, but her life could soon become less low-key when she unveils new oil paintings in "Spawn," an exhibit opening today at the Harrison Center for the Arts.
"There was a part of me that needed to lay low," said Knopp, a 1984 graduate of the Herron School of Art and Design. "I was living life."
Still, she and her notable classmates -- Steve Paddack, Brian Fick, Rob Day and the late Ed Sanders -- have been significant players in the local visual-arts culture for more than 25 years, earning their places in Indianapolis art history.
In 2009, Knopp exhibited in New York and was featured in New American Paintings, a juried magazine. Later this spring, she has a show at the Russell/Projects gallery in Virginia. Not too shabby for being inconspicuous.
Knopp's narrative works, which are executed on pod-shaped, non-symmetrical wood panels -- some as large as 5 feet in diameter -- exude an organic, feminine feel.
"Some of it looks otherworldly, so you could almost get a sci-fi take on it," she said of the soft abstractions resembling little microcosmic worlds or deconstructed florals. "There's kind of a spawning in the creative process, so it's a very general term that just happens to work well with the imagery."
That process is what's significant about this new body of work.
Taking an intentional naive approach, Knopp has allowed herself to paint without inhibition. The results are a testament to her marked skills as a painter. It's also a drastic difference from her day job as a decorative painter and muralist.
"I just let myself paint circles, as many as I wanted," she said. "I just went ahead and let it happen." She said she follows her instincts, has fun and pushes herself with the work.
Employing a standard theory of mixing red, blue and yellow to get a full spectrum, Knopp chooses and responds to color psychologically. Each painting winds up having its own color scheme, ranging from hot pink to grays or beiges.
"I am so into color, it's crazy. I become extremely engaged in the palette," she said. "I feel like I have a real structured palette, even though it's not a conventional one. It's not even a conscious thing."
Knopp doesn't have any expectations for viewers with this new body of work.
"I used to worry a lot about the purpose of what I was doing. At some point I just came to believe that it's important for me to be extremely engaged in what I'm doing," she said. "I just started believing that that's what matters, and I still do."
It still startles her when people respond positively to her work. "(But) it's also wonderful. It's really cool. That's not to say I'm not concerned about how things will read or how they work within the art world."
'Spawn'
» When: 6 to 9 p.m. today (artist reception). The show runs through May 1. » Where: Harrison Center for the Arts, 1505 N. Delaware St. » Cost: Free admission. » Info: For more information about the exhibition, call (317) 396-3886 or visit www .harrisoncenter.org. For more information on Knopp, visit www .CarlaKnopp.com.
Carla Knopp, painter, Harrison Center for the Arts, Frank Espich, Hereon school of Art, Ed Sanders, Russell/Projects Gallery, Stye Paddack, Brian Fick, Rob Day, New American Paintings magazine,
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