Karen Fabiane

Personal Statement

Born in NYC in 1949, I grew up on Long Island, and was part of the Manhattan downtown scene during the 1970s, making music, writing & performing poetry, and painting. My poems have been published in small press journals since 1975, including Bound, Calling All Poets (CAPS 2020), Coal, Downtown, Heroin Love Songs, Home Planet News, Manhattan Press, MisFit, Momoware, Newsletter Inago, New Voices, OM, Poetry Motel, Rag Shock, Salonika, 2, Title I, and Torture House USA. Three books have also resulted: Dancing Bears (Bright Hill Press, 2011), Seeing You Again (Grey Book press, 2014), and Between Canal & Ida (Sleepy Grrrl Press, 2022). My paintings have been exhibited in Seattle, New York City, Washington, DC, and the Capital District of New York.

Because people ask, I should say that, prior to late 1996, these activities were enacted under my dead (birth) name, Mike Krischik. I had gender reassignment surgery (GRS – sex change surgery) in 2001, after 4.5 years’ transition. I mention this because:
1) you won’t find a mention of Karen Fabiane before 1997, perhaps causing you to doubt my credentials if you check these earlier credits, and
2) I’ve heard all kinds of accounts about my life and gender status ...

Post-secondary education
1967-68: Pratt Institute/architecture.
1968-69: Nassau Community College/fine art, literature classes
1969-70: School of Visual Arts/fine art.
1979-80: Art Students League/life drawing.

Exhibitions
1978: Spring/Owens Storefront Gallery/1st Avenue, Seattle/"Street Art: A Visual Manifesto"/group show.
1984: August 1-25/13th Hour Gallery/530 E. 13th St., NYC/"Works in Color"/group show.
1988: June 1-July 31/Stockwell Gallery/510 E. 13th St., NYC/"Rebirth"/group show.
1989: February 18-March 11/Ariel Gallery/470 Broome St., NYC/"Gesture & Surface"/group show.
1990: January 20-February 10/Ariel Gallery/470 Broome St., NYC/"Images of Nature"/group show.
1990: March 24-May 30/Ariel Gallery/76 Greene St., NYC/"Gallery Presents"/group show.
1991: February 25-April 30/Ariel Gallery/76 Greene St., NYC/"Gallery Presents"/group show.
1991- 93: Michael Stone Collection/8133 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Va./several (3-4) selected group shows.
1992 - 96: Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts/248-250 Main St., Oneonta, NY/several (4-5) open, group shows.
1994: Summer/Delaware County Historical Society/Delhi, NY/"Work"/group show.
1999: September 22-November 12/Romaine Brooks Gallery/332 Hudson Ave, Albany, NY/"Autumn 1999"/group show.
1999-2000: November 20-January 6/Romaine Brooks Gallery/332 Hudson Ave., Albany, NY/"Paintings"/one-woman show.
2000: Spring/Sage Colle...