YORK Open Studios regular Adele Karmazyn is exhibiting new works in her Pleasure Gardens show at Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, until October 25.
Using her digital camera, scanner and Photoshop, Adele creates digital photomontages at her Wilton Rise studio in Holgate, printing the images onto archival paper before hand-finishing them with paint, pastel and gold leaf.
Her love of antiquities and oddities, weathered surfaces and nature is the foundation of her work.
“For Adele, collecting 19th century photographs is where the journey begins,” says gallery owner and curator Simon Main. “From her ever-growing collection, she chooses her characters and brings them back to full colour, intertwining them with creatures big and small, coupled with delicate foliage, creating images both sophisticated and slightly surrealist.
“Adele often uses idioms, metaphors and musical lyrics for inspiration and to add narrative to her work. It is ultimately the love of the Victorian era, costume and interiors that drives her to create the images she does, with the added freedom to insert an element of playful surprise.”
After studying for her BA (Hons) in textile art at Winchester School of Art, Adele completed a diploma in children’s book illustration that brought her back to the use of Photoshop, now her main tool.
Village Gallery opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
