The Challenge with this commission for Six Hundred Four Shoes was to make an image that works as a pattern but is also rich with personal and profound stories. The reception to this project has been very positive, The line is nearly sold out and has even had some celebrity endorsements.
I approach each personal commission with a high level of dedication. I begin by sketching a variety of options based on notes from my patron. The next stage is that i make more revisions based on feedback. Following that i immerse myself in the final painting. My ultimate goal is to truly understand the subjects of my art.
In his debut book Sean Karemaker presents stories of his wild BC country childhood contrasted with his downtown Vancouver bus riding adventures. In between are stories of small town parties, drawing in cafés, school misfits, scrolls, street people of all kinds, and winding through it all are the ghosts, both known and unknown.Karemaker has a distinct panelless style of comics in which the narrative and art blend seamlessly. Journal writing has always been an instinctive foundation for him -- most often of an observational, autobiographical nature -- and here he combines it with flowing, greyscale images to make wholly original comics.
2019 poster commission for the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival. Ink on paper, digital colors.
This image depict a series of unique characters meant to challenge the idea that comics need to depict a set of prescribed cultural norms. Each character is depicted without a defined gender, race, or age to allow for self projection and to promote the idea that comics are for everyone.
This image was additionally used for the Roundhouse Community centers program guide.
Karemaker has completed a number of illustrated logos for companies such as The District, Cloudkid and UNCVRD. With each project he strives to get to the core of each clients needs. in addition to a cool graphic approach Sean also has the skills to attach Augmented reality components to your logo or create a 3D online ad or banner.
‘Feast of Fields’ is a reference to the picnics Karemaker took with his mother in the upper fields of his elementary school. It is a graphic biography of the artist’s mother who grew up in Denmark in an orphanage because her mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and her father had left her and her siblings behind. She went on to raise her brothers from the age of seven. The story weaves between her story in the past and the present of the 1990s in British Columbia.
Using the objects from her youth as anchors to another time, Karemaker inherits and tries to understand these memories as her son. The book is a tribute to the qualities of selflessness, sacrifice and love associated with motherhood. The story will resonate with anyone familiar with immigration to Canada, poverty, or mental illness. Karemaker constructs the graphic novel through a series of scrolls, densely illustrated, then cut up to make the pages of the book, creating a truly unique visual and narrative experience.
There is an immersive Virtual Reality application of the story planned in conjunction with the release of the book.
Using a variety of materials including fiberglass, wood, clay, metal resin and acrylic Karemaker construct 3D story based images. He has worked on large scale scale sculpture installations and his practice is also informed by extensive experience in 3D modeling for the videos games industry.
Based on an affinity for vintage action figures as personal amulets Karemaker began building his own unique resin figures. sculpted in polymer clay and cast in dyed resin. This collection was originally unveiled in ‘Who Ever Thought Somebody Would Find You?’ 2015, Serpens Gallery.
Following this the figures have been placed in the permanent collection of the YVR Airport. Check them out next time you fly!
In Candy Bar, Electric Lights, Vancouver-based artist Sean Karemaker shows original drawings from his most recent graphic novel, Feast of Fields. This deeply personal narrative series draws from his experience growing up in BC as well as his mother’s childhood in Denmark, focusing on the year she lived in an orphanage with her brothers. With elements of magic realism, this moving work winds together memory, family history, and imagination.
The narrative unfolds over 14 six-foot black and white drawings that encircle the gallery; each meticulously detailed paper scroll flowing into the next.
This exhibition offers visitors three different ways to experience Feast of Fields: visitors can tour the gallery and experience the story visually by viewing the wordless scrolls, they can read it with text in its completed book form, and they can plunge themselves in the world Karemaker has created by experiencing the story in virtual reality (VR).
Using VR to place the viewer inside his narrative as a witness, Karemaker gives them the autonomy to explore the story as they desire. Being immersed in a 360° environment, viewers begin to experience the story themselves; by sharing space with the story’s characters, viewers may develop a deeper sense of understanding or empathy.
Karemaker’s stories and characters weave through the immersive tableaus he has constructed, bringing the viewer along with them. His intricate illustrated pieces encourage visitors to pause, explore, and be curious.
January 12 – February 23, 2019 Seymour Art Gallery
In this experiential adventure game you’ll play as a lonely house cat left behind during a disaster. As you explore the woods of the Pacific Northwest outside your home you realize you aren’t alone. Befriend strange ghosts to uncover the secrets of the forest and break out of the cycle that traps you all.
DMoC is pleased to announce dreamscapes, a special exhibit in the Vault Gallery that opens May 3rd in coordination with the CPS All-City Visual Arts Exhibitions. Enjoy this pop-up exhibit featuring Sean Karemaker (artist), Elise Lane (composer), and Bill Bartolotta (prose and voice).
Design Museum of Chicago
72 E Randolph, Vault Gallery
Chicago, IL 60601
The colourful mural, titled “Let’s End Homelessness Together,” is painted on the walls of Jennie Pentland Place, a First United Church social housing society on East Hastings Street, and combines a comic format with poetry by McGrath.
McGrath lived on the Downtown Eastside and was a Megaphone magazine vendor who Karemaker often collaborated with, before he passed away in 2017.
“My goal as an artist is to encourage empathy and self-expression with my storytelling,” Karemaker said.
“Ron wrote beautiful poetry about his life, and I provided illustrations. When he passed away I felt compelled to find a way to find representation of his ideas in a public way.”
Karemaker said McGrath suffered from a condition he described as “environmental illness.”
“His sensitivity to chemical smells and perfumes made it hard for him to live within the existing shelter system,” Karemaker said.
“Ron imagined and wrote about a world where people like him might get some relief.”
Karemaker will be unveiling the mural in January, along with a plaque with a biography about McGrath and his poem “Lets End homelessness together” in its entirety.
“What I feel Ron was trying to communicate with his poem is that we as a society can start to effect change around homelessness in our city,” Karemaker said.
“It doesn't have to start with government officials or money power structures but it can begin with individuals taking some kind of small or large action to see or change issues of homelessness or social housing.”
In the City of Vancouver's 2019 homeless count, 2,223 residents identified as homeless, 614 people were living on the street and 1,609 people were living in sheltered locations, including emergency shelters, detox centres, safe houses and hospitals, with no fixed address.
Karemaker’s hoping the mural will inspire people who walk by to help others who are in need in whatever way they can.
“Empathy is the most important emotion we posses as human beings,” Karemaker said.
“I think it’s really important that we start to understand that we are all the same, if we wouldn't accept homelessness for ourselves or our family, we shouldn't accept it for anyone else within our community.”
The mural, funded by the BC Arts Council and Vancouver Park Board, is located at 540 East Hastings Street.
ABOUT THE MURAL
Changes in our behavior resulting from COVID-19 have led to a significant reduction in global pollution. The inspiration for this mural comes from this heightened awareness of the interdependence of all lifeforms. The artists depict how everything in the natural world is connected, from sea to sky, mountains to tiny mushrooms, furry critters to lush groves.
Using augmented reality (AR), aspects of the mural come to life when viewed through a phone camera.
THE ARTISTS
Dona Park
Jay Rettich
Chantelle Trainor-Matties
Natalie Scott
with Mentor Artist: Sean Karemaker
ABOUT CITI/SEEN
CITI/SEEN is an annual public art initiative and part of the Emerge Program at The Reach which supports professional development in regional artists between the ages of 18-35. This year's mural is sponsored by the RBC Foundation, Palmer & Palmer Law Offices, and the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association (Downtown Abbotsford)
A beer label Designed for Hypha Project, 2021. The beer includes fully 3D augmented reality feature!
