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About Ken

Carroll County
Ken Girardini has been a full-time artist, living and working in Carroll County Maryland for more than 30 years after leaving CSC at NASA Goddard.  As an inspired self-learner, Ken explores various media including oil painting, metal sculpture and functional design, photography, digital media and new mixed media montage. Ken's individual work is now centered on digital printing and layering of transparent images with traditional painting media and sculptural elements.  Ken's Patinated Steel… more
View Ken's Resume
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Window Series

Looking through the frame of our own making, what can we see when we look deep enough and long enough?

This ongoing series reflects my interest in our planet and near-earth space.  "What if we had a window to the layers; the millennial accretion of sediment and time?"  What would it reveal about ourselves?

Two distinct works are shown here, the Window view and the Rift view.  Both examine layering in two and three dimensions.


  • View from Orbit.
    View from Orbit.
    Abstract combinations of imagery, painting and sculptural elements combine to create floating elements where the view is of ourselves.
  • Magma
    Magma
    Abstract combinations of imagery, painting and sculptural elements combine to create floating elements where the view is of ourselves. Steel structure over image and acrylic.
  • Thermal_Vent
    Thermal_Vent
    Abstract combinations of imagery, painting and sculptural elements combine to create floating elements where the view is of ourselves. Steel structure over image and acrylic.
  • ContinentalRift.jpg
    ContinentalRift.jpg
    Digital and physical layering of images on aluminum, with acrylic and carving.
  • Coastal Rift
    Coastal Rift
    Coastal Rift. 42 x 24 Digital and physical layering of images on aluminum, with acrylic and carving.
  • Rift.jpg
    Rift.jpg
    Rift. Digital and physical layering of images on aluminum, with acrylic and carving.
  • Tectonic Rift
    Tectonic Rift
    Tectonic Rift. Digital and physical layering of images on aluminum, with acrylic and carving.
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    • Mixed Media/Photo Sculptures

    Printing on transparent layers of acrylic medium, (like plastic wrap) I am able to transfer the images to the metal surface and alter them by painting both under and over them.  I can add as many layers as needed and decide where to deepen the images or keep them transparent allowing the metal surface to reflect through.  The best surprise is when a piece is finished and you see it in different room lights, coming from different angles.  Some things just disappear while other parts of the piece that you didn’t even notice, jump out at you! My panels and sculptures are formed from aluminum or steel to create a 'metal canvas' to which I attach elements such as imagery, cut-out steel figures, painted, stenciled or silk screened images. Other materials may include any of the following; metal, wood, acrylic, pigments, or found objects.


    • BetweenHeavenAndEarth_19x54.jpg
      BetweenHeavenAndEarth_19x54.jpg
      Between Heaven and Earth - Image transfer and pigments on aluminum with sculptural steel and polycarbonate structure 19 x 54
    • WaterMessage-48x13.jpg
      WaterMessage-48x13.jpg
      Water Message 48 x 13, Image transfer and pigments on aluminum with sculptural steel and polycarbonate structure.
    • WindMessage-2.jpg
      WindMessage-2.jpg
      Wind Message - Image transfer and pigments on aluminum with sculptural steel and polycarbonate structure. 13 w x 48 h x 1.5 d
    • Moving Among
      Moving Among
    • Moving Between
      Moving Between
    • Moving Series
      Moving Series
    • Moving To Halsey
      Moving To Halsey
    • Moving Toward
      Moving Toward
    • Moving With
      Moving With
    • AncientMessage.jpg
      AncientMessage.jpg
      Ancient Message - Image transfer and pigments on aluminum with sculptural steel and polycarbonate structure 19 x 54
    •

    • Portraiture

    Portaits; layered imagery and acrylic on aluminum panel.
    • Jeannie
      Jeannie
    • Aarti 1
      Aarti 1
      Layered images and acrylic define and reveal alternate structures within, around and over the figure. Imagery and pigments on aluminum.
    • Metropolis One Aarti
      Metropolis One Aarti
      Layered images and acrylic define and reveal alternate structures within, around and over the figure. Imagery and pigments on aluminum.
    • Lyndsay L
      Lyndsay L
      Layered images and acrylic define and reveal alternate structures within, around and over the figure. Imagery and pigments on aluminum.
    • Zoe
      Zoe
      Layered images and acrylic define and reveal alternate structures within, around and over the figure. Imagery and pigments on aluminum.
    • Monica
      Monica
    • Pauleen
      Pauleen
    • Blue Doll
      Blue Doll
      Inspired by all manner of art in Japan, Ken did a series of portraits featuring Japanese dolls. They each evoke a feeling, each have a personality, just like us.
    • Raven Doll
      Raven Doll
      Inspired by all manner of art in Japan, Ken did a series of portraits featuring Japanese dolls. They each evoke a feeling, each have a personality, just like us.
    • Memories Past
      Memories Past
      Inspired by all manner of art in Japan, Ken did a series of portraits featuring Japanese dolls. They each evoke a feeling, each have a personality, just like us.
    •

    • Alt-Light Photography

    Working only with existing subtle light and alternative lighting sources (car headlights, reflections, etc) I try to create a feeling of separateness and isolation of the viewer.  
    • Girardini (1 of 4).jpg
      Girardini (1 of 4).jpg
      Cold evening just west of Glenwood Springs along the highway.
    • Girardini (2 of 4).jpg
      Girardini (2 of 4).jpg
      Waiting alone in the car near an building in Lawler, Iowa.
    • Girardini (3 of 4).jpg
      Girardini (3 of 4).jpg
      Sage, along the side of the road with bus approaching near Snowmass, CO. illuminated by the car headlights.
    • Girardini (4 of 4).jpg
      Girardini (4 of 4).jpg
      Out of focus guard rail, rusted; edge of car window and mirror in focus.
    •

    • Photo Sculptures

    Layered and sculpted imagery on aluminum panels with objects.
    • Jefferson's Tree
      Jefferson's Tree
      Bringing together two iconic images of our Nation's Capital: the Jefferson Memorial and cherry blossoms. Growing through time brings new cherry blossoms each year, but while we move through time it is important to remind ourselves of the lessons of the past.
    • Begin and End
      Begin and End
      Nature is our beginning, our end, our entire life-whether we tend to it or not. "Begin and End" reminds us that great and powerful things, too, start small.
    • Rebuilding Democracy
      Rebuilding Democracy
      In light of such turbulent times, it is important to remember why America was founded. In order to maintain our freedoms, we must take another look at what a democracy is--and rebuild ourselves stronger with each passing year. Stronger, better, without losing freedoms.
    • Gantry
      Gantry
      Stumbling on a scale-model of the Saturn V rocket that I built as a teenager, I photographed it and decided to use it in my work. This iconic rocket form took us to the moon in a spectacular show of technological and human achievement, only to leave us wanting more. The gantry is laying down because we have left the task unfinished. Image printed on industrial felt overlaying a steel wire form on painted aluminum. 25" x 25" x 3"
    • Reflected Glory
      Reflected Glory
      The piece's purpose is outlined in the title: Reflected Glory. Made to remember a man who helped build our nation into freedom. Layered imagery, acrylic, and metal additions on aluminum panel.
    • Digital Virtual
      Digital Virtual
      A home, (our home?) hangs in the balance above linear demarcations line window blinds. Outside an ominous figure of digital origins and unreadable text peers in. Imagery and acrylic on aluminum with wire and cloth. 48" x 36" x 4"
    • View From Orbit
      View From Orbit
      Inspired by the spate of beautiful images from the International Space Station, this "View from Orbit" is my abstract interpretation of the portal view that most of us can only dream of seeing in person. Acrylic and imagery on Aluminum 40" x 24" x 3"
    • Branching Path
      Branching Path
      Clean blocks of metallic forms hover above a horizon of evening-like shadows. The bottom form holds fields of tilled copper rows while the larger top form, nearly devoid of color, glows with painted intersecting lines. Above the lines floats an image of fallen leaves and branch reflections in our pond. Connecting it all, and rising in graceful arcs, a steel and copper wire sculpture emulates the form of a dried and curled pine branch. Acrylic and imagery on Aluminum with welded wire 48"x 36"x 2"
    • Lines on the Road
      Lines on the Road
      Inspired by the joy and potential mystery of what a road trip can be, the idea of "the journey" over the destination. Layered imagery, acrylic, and metal on aluminum panel.
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