Art From The Fugue State, With Kara Wall
- Elevated Magazines
- Dec 24, 2025
- 2 min read
When people find out Im an artist, they usually say, “Oh, you should paint me something for over my fireplace!” I always follow with: “Let me show you my work first. Its not for everyone”.
A girl I used to work with, saw one of my paintings (my favorite, for the record) and said, “You’re f#@*ing weird, Kara”. Truth is...she’s probably right.
When I was a kid, instead of playing with my Barbies, I pulled off their arms and legs and made new arrangements. When I looked at the walls of my house, I saw wide open spaces for drawing. (Sorry, mom.)
And too many times, what started as an innocent doodle turned into something enormous (like a whale on a couch or TV over an entire desk) without me ever knowing how. The words, “Kara, what are you doing?!” were a constant companion.
When it comes to art, my subconscious has always been in the driver’s seat. My job is to translate whatever comes through to paper or canvas.
And over the years, I’ve come to see that there’s a pattern and a perspective to it: anti-perfection. A genuine captivation by the peculiar and the asymmetric seem to guide every image.
To me, pretty for pretty’s sake is boring. Idiosyncrasies are what distinguish everything on this planet from everything else. Our scars, our laugh lines, our battle wounds are us.
Even when I start with a plan, the piece always morphs halfway through—a face loses a mouth, a woman loses a breast, a torso stretches into the distance—it becomes what it should be. And I like it that way.
But, it’s not for everyone. And that’s ok.
My hope is that people have an experience with my work and ideally feel moved and seen. That’s the real victory.
So yeah, I’m f#@*ing weird. Thanks for noticing.
