Karma presents Miniatures, a two-person show of works by sculptor Lukas Geronimas and painter Marley Freeman, on view from June 2 to July 7, 2023, at Karma’s bookstore, 136 East 3rd Street, New York.

In Miniatures, Freeman’s small-scale, abstract paintings of layered and woven color are presented alongside Geronimas’s lustrous, playful brass and wood sculptures. In addition to pieces by each artist, this exhibition also features collaborations, which the artists created by sending works to each other by mail. For these, Freeman painted directly on the surface of several of Geronimas’s sculptures, and he in turn made artist’s frames for a series of her works on linen.

The following email exchange between the two artists describes the history and impact of their collaborations:

LUKAS GERONIMAS: Marley has been a painter since I’ve known her. I’m a fan of painting, but would never identify as a painter—mine is the world of objects. Objects can be painted on, and paintings can be tied to the wall by way of objects, so this all makes sense for the two of us. I know Marley well, I know a lot of things about her, but I’ll never know what exactly she’s doing in her paintings—the mechanics are evident but elusive. We get along great, our work gets along well too.

The thing that’s great about teaming up with Marley is that I can’t do the things she can do with an artwork, and she can’t do the things I can do, so the collaborative results are things neither of us could have done. I don’t think the result of our collaborations are better than our works made individually, but they arrive at a meaningful expression by way of a more complex mode; two instruments for one result. In this show we have pairings, and designated—or authorized—collaborations. You can see us playing our instruments next to each other, and you can see us playing our instruments with each other.

MARLEY FREEMAN: I love the way Lukas works with materials. It feels like he can make anything out of anything. I also love that our working relationship is very natural. This is not a labored collaboration. There’s no notes or discussions. Just general warm expressions and packages. As a New York–based art worker the people I have often been closest to have been either roommates or co-workers. And Lukas fits snuggly in this category. We relate through making.