CHATTANOOGA, TN.- The Hunter Museum of American Art is set to host a solo exhibition of works by Karen LaMonte, exploring the tensions between body and spirit, perfect and imperfect beauty, permanence and temporality, east and west. Embodied Beauty: Sculptures of Karen LaMonte, brings together Nocturnes and Floating World, two series of life-sized evening gown and kimono sculptures in cast glass, clay, bronze, and iron. The show will be on view from Friday, May 25th through Sunday, September 2nd, with an opening reception and artist’s presentation on Thursday, May 24th at 6:00pm.

Haunting, shadow-colored dress figures, the Nocturnes reflect LaMonte’s interests in classical Greek and Roman figures. Made from a unique glass formula created by the artist and designed using live models, the Nocturnes seem to drape and cling like actual fabric, while suspended, unworn, in mid-air.

Floating World emerged from LaMonte’s residency in Kyoto, Japan, and involved a thorough exploration of Eastern concepts of beauty. While in Japan, LaMonte explored all aspects of the kimono, from weaving and construction to ceremonial function and historic meaning. LaMonte’s kimono sculptures manifest a Japanese cultural norm in which the human figure is depleted of all curves, becoming an idealized cylindrical form.

Exquisitely detailed, LaMonte’s ethereal sculptures captivate the viewer with their beauty, but also challenge assumptions. The female forms in these works, absent, yet implied, raise questions about the role that clothing plays in society, and the impact it has on women’s lives, whether in the east or the west.

Originally from New York, Karen LaMonte has spent more than a decade in the Czech Republic challenging herself and the limits of cast glass to produce these bodies of work. Since her graduation in 1990 from the Rhode Island School of Design, LaMonte has explored figuration through the motif of clothing as a stand-in for the human.