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From the Artists Series. This portrait is included in my book Insights: The Portraiture of Charles R. Rushton.

Karen Yank began her art making studies working in her father Paul Yank’s Wisconsin sculpture studio. She earned BFA and MFA degrees at the University of Wisconsin and Rutgers University.

She began exhibiting while in college and has continued a successful exhibition career with solo and group shows in public and private venues throughout the country.
Yank is an abstract geometric sculptor who tries to capture the feelings a viewer has when looking at a nature rather than trying to artistically replicate nature itself. Her early works utilized a combination of found and fabricated objects imbued with a sense of time and history. As her work grew in scale she abandoned found objects in favor of fabricated elements that Yank prepares with hand work and patinas that emulate the character of found elements.

"All my work is synonymous with my life. In a sense every piece is part of a self-portrait. When I'm working I use meditation to clear my mind and allow inspiration to come to me. What is truly happening in my life at the time comes through," Yank said. "I see myself as an abstract expressionist because of the very emotional content in my work . . . . My working process involves a long series of steps from cutting, bending, forming and initial welding through grinding, sand blasting, finish welding and acid baths to oxidize the metals to the desired level."
You can see examples of her work at http://karenyank.com/.