[Karen] Tonight is a very special night.

I'm# opening a new show called paper.

color.

lines.

This is, I guess, the big moment for me.

It's# a beautiful gallery and a beautiful space and beautiful people working here.

I started out# as a sculptor, then started doing installations with stitched leaves that I picked up# in my backyard.

I had to sweep them up, so I decided I would stitch them.

And if you# walk around a sculpture, you get to see many different versions of the same line.

It's not# in the same place; it crosses differently.

And so I became very interested in line and started# doing a lot of drawing.

And from the drawings, I said, well, let's put a little color# in them.

And finally, I got to painting.

[Sergio] Karen Rifas is one of the Grand# Dames of the Miami cultural attache for over four decades now.

When you confront# the element of her being a sculptor, and then getting into her painting practice, I# think it's even more fascinating because she was able to bring that three-dimensionality out.

And# then, the paper, which holds such great evidence of time and mark-making, I think, is also just# such a beautiful metaphor towards this deceiving, very quiet element in her work, where# all this activity comes together and, you know, the action deepens, right?# Your confrontation with the work, it deepens, and you're more enriched as# you allow the eye to settle more and more.

[Karen] To me, it looks, the blue looks# kind of like chair-like, and I'm maybe thinking back to my African art history where# the chair is, the king has the chair, and the chair is an important person.

The important# person sits in a chair.

I don't know.

But just playing with the geometry and, again, if you# stand on one side, it might look one way to you, but if you come around to the other side, you'll# get a different perspective, and it will look differently.

Where you stand is what you see, so I# play with that.

And if you're standing at one side of the artwork, it might look different on the# left than if you were standing on the right.

So, it's a game.

It's fun, and it somehow, it works.# You can see two things at the same time.

I work from a grid, so if it's 10 feet by 10 feet, I can# say 10 inches by 10 inches and work it out on a grid, and then, it's a matter of just plotting it# and using different materials instead of a brush, perhaps a roller, to apply the paint.

I've learned# how to roll the paper up so that I can work on it and don't have to climb across the table to get to# the center, so the size doesn't matter.

The bigger the size, though, the more you can feel like# you're a part of the piece.

The smaller pieces are similar in that you can stand left or right, and# you can pull yourself into the piece, which is, I think, all artists want is to have people# take time and put themselves into the artist's thoughts in the picture.

I was gonna paint them# the traditional Mondrian colors of red and blue and yellow.

And I said, wait a minute.

Why am I# thinking so narrowly?

I mean, let's, you know, why am I doing it?

Let's paint the arches pink.

And# it was like an awakening for me.

And it's like, color in Miami is the cars, the orange and the# green, and the cars zooming down the expressway.

[Sergio] I think her color theory# practice is so beautiful and empowering, and sometimes, I'm fascinated at# how she plays with just a change, a little hue change, and how it really# creates such great volume in her work.

This was the pink room with the pink flag, and# so, I had to honor it again with something very special.

And so, I went in, I thought of# I and U. This is a kind of a Y and an O. O is up here.

And U and me, M, E. It's# about getting people to think about family situation or community situations or even# the governmental situation today, where we're not thinking about cooperation or give and# take.

So, I'm thinking visually as, and also, I hope somebody will read the# letters and figure out I, you and me.