Reclining Nocturne 1, 1/3, 2015, rusted iron 21 2/3 x 49 x 19 2/3 in.

Karen LaMonte’s sculptures explore how clothing defines cultural identities and acts as our “social skin.” Instead of the traditional portrayal of the nude, LaMonte chooses to reveal the female form through hollow garments created in a variety of materials: bronze, glass, ceramic and rusted iron.

Etude 10, 5/5, 2016, cast glass, 28 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 7 in.

Reclining Etude 8, 1/5, 2016, cast glass, lighter, 11 2/3 x 25 x 13 in.

Nocturne 3, 1/3, 2015, rusted iron, 59 2/3 x 25 2/5 x 25 3/5 in.

Embodied Beauty, on exhibit at Gerald Peters Projects in Santa Fe, New Mexico brings together two series of LaMonte’s works, Floating World and Nocturnes, to examine the ideals of beauty in different contexts.

Kabuki, AP1, 2013, cast glass, 59 2/3 x 31 2/3 x 33 in.

Odoriko, unique, 2013, ceramic, 50 x 26 1/4 x 15 1/4 in

Karen LaMonte graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1990 and created her first major work, Vestige (2000), during a Fulbright scholarship in Prague. Her works are included in important public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the de Young Museum, San Francisco; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. LaMonte’s works have been exhibited at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, and at Glasstress, an exhibition of works in glass held during the Venice Biennale, in 2017 and 2019.

Reclining Nocturne 3, 1/3, 2015, white bronze, 22 2/5 x 59 x 31 in.

Karen LaMonte’s website, here.