karen kunkel
story teller
Karen Kunkel, also known as Unkel Kunkel, is an actor, clown, singer, musician, poet, writer, art-coach, activist, street-performer, professional silly-goose, and aspiring group-arts therapist!
An interdisciplinary performer and multimedia artist, Kunkel’s performances are ephemeral and her creations are varied and many. Kunkel has a Bachelor’s in Theater Arts from Western Washington University.
"I tell stories in any and every way I can," says Kunkel, "and I love to explore questions through communal artworks--presenting questions to audiences during my music shows, and/or hosting variety shows, exploring questions and many truths, together through performance and art projects made on the spot."
Her praxis as a performance artist is in improvising movement and song, moving from places of curiosity in exploration of questions like:
“What experiences do all humans have in common?--In tandem with the lense of gender fluidity
“What does it mean to be marginalized, only to reclaim new identity and empowerment?
“Where is your favorite place by the water?--in exploration of individual connection to earth”. . .
Kunkel has done work as a clown for numerous community circuses and environmental-education groups from Bellingham, WA, to Tucson, AZ, to New Orleans.
"Her personae as an emcee is one of gentle mischief and joyous care!" --Marilee Sexton, Subdued Stringband Jamboree
Kunkel grew up on the Colville Indian Reservation in the Okanogan river valley on her family’s apple orchard. She grew up singing with her three brothers, performing with her family since she was four.
“I was born into a culture of connection to land and reverence for earth, and that has never left me–though I’ve lived in Seattle, New York City, on a tallship in Puget Sound, and now in New Orleans–seeking centers of culture–the connection to wild places and clean water lies deep in my heart–and while I have changed a lot over the years–my politics,my religion, my ego have transformed– the belief, no, the *knowing* that humans must build a new way of life, centering sustainable ways of existing, centering the health of *our* ecosystems is the only way humans will be able to continue living and loving under the stars on this amazing planet!”
Kunkel (any pronouns) is a loud supporter for QTBIPOC.
She believes in the abolishment of police and all learned fascist systems of colonial oppression and violence. Kunkel is anti-war and pro-Earth. She aims to use her voice as a human and artist to support alternative systems to the capitalistic status-quo. She believes that it is possible to build, with joy and reverence for life on earth, a society of humans living sustainably and in balance with the web-of-life on this planet.
An interdisciplinary performer and multimedia artist, Kunkel’s performances are ephemeral and her creations are varied and many. Kunkel has a Bachelor’s in Theater Arts from Western Washington University.
"I tell stories in any and every way I can," says Kunkel, "and I love to explore questions through communal artworks--presenting questions to audiences during my music shows, and/or hosting variety shows, exploring questions and many truths, together through performance and art projects made on the spot."
Her praxis as a performance artist is in improvising movement and song, moving from places of curiosity in exploration of questions like:
“What experiences do all humans have in common?--In tandem with the lense of gender fluidity
“What does it mean to be marginalized, only to reclaim new identity and empowerment?
“Where is your favorite place by the water?--in exploration of individual connection to earth”. . .
Kunkel has done work as a clown for numerous community circuses and environmental-education groups from Bellingham, WA, to Tucson, AZ, to New Orleans.
"Her personae as an emcee is one of gentle mischief and joyous care!" --Marilee Sexton, Subdued Stringband Jamboree
Kunkel grew up on the Colville Indian Reservation in the Okanogan river valley on her family’s apple orchard. She grew up singing with her three brothers, performing with her family since she was four.
“I was born into a culture of connection to land and reverence for earth, and that has never left me–though I’ve lived in Seattle, New York City, on a tallship in Puget Sound, and now in New Orleans–seeking centers of culture–the connection to wild places and clean water lies deep in my heart–and while I have changed a lot over the years–my politics,my religion, my ego have transformed– the belief, no, the *knowing* that humans must build a new way of life, centering sustainable ways of existing, centering the health of *our* ecosystems is the only way humans will be able to continue living and loving under the stars on this amazing planet!”
Kunkel (any pronouns) is a loud supporter for QTBIPOC.
She believes in the abolishment of police and all learned fascist systems of colonial oppression and violence. Kunkel is anti-war and pro-Earth. She aims to use her voice as a human and artist to support alternative systems to the capitalistic status-quo. She believes that it is possible to build, with joy and reverence for life on earth, a society of humans living sustainably and in balance with the web-of-life on this planet.
