Karen Birkin
Education -
Courtauld Institute BA History of Art 1996,
1996-2004 Film production/scriptwriting Tartan Films.
2001 - 2005 Restoration of early Netherlandish paintings for Patrick Corbett studio Beaufort street. Evening classes with David Cranswick and Stephane Rene in old master painting and icon painting.
2006-2008 BA in Fine art at Coleg Menai, unfinished due to becoming a mother.
October 2021, Bangor University, Postgraduate certificate in Fine art with distinction.
2022 Turps correspondence course.
Since 2016 exhibited regularly and had solo exhibitions with Oriel Plas Glen y Weddw in north Wales and The Table Gallery in Hay on Wye. Selected for Wells Cathedral exhibition in 2022 and COLAB body and place residency at owl pen manor in 2023.
Statement
"Everything is a mystery, ourselves, and all things both simple and humble." Morandi.
In my practice I think a lot about space, psychological space, warped space, liminal space, infinite space, uncertainty, endless movement and the transience of all things. I seek out connections, emotional, lyrical, often with links to poetry, film, literature and other works of art.
I work mostly in oil paint on different surfaces, aluminium, panel, mdf, glass, collage, paper.
Instagram = birkinkaren
Exhibitons
Feb 2016. Solo exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd,
May 2016, Joint exhibition with Max Blonde and Olivia Blonde, Corke gallery, Liverpool
July 2016, Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
July 2017, Joint exhibition with Christina Pierce, The table gallery, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire
July 2017, Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
April 2018, Joint exhibition with Sophie Windham,The table gallery, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire
July 2018, Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
July 2019, Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
Summer 2020 online mentorship with Ruprecht von Kaufman
August 2020 Installation at Plas Bodfa as part of Unus Multorum exhibition, Anglesey Gwynedd.
27th November -18th December 2021 Solo Exhibition at The Table Galley, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire
July 2022 Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
July 2022 Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
July 2022 Summer exhibition, Chelsea Arts Club, London
Autumn 2022- Summer 2023 Turps Banana online mentorship
June 2023 Colab “Body and place residency”
July 2023 Summer exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
July 2023 Summer exhibition, Chelsea Arts Club, London
November 2023, Solo Exhibition at The Table Gallery, Hay on Wye, Herefordshire.
June18th 2024 Aug 18th 2024 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, London
Summer 2024 Ye Lle Celf exhibition, Eisteddfod
Summer 2024 Summer Exhibition, Oriel Plas Glen y Weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd
24th Oct 2024 - 17th Feb 2025 “Merched y Mor” Oriel Caffi, Galeri Caernarfon, Gwynedd
Spring 2025 working with Docent Art https://docent-art.com on a series “Inward expeditions - sources of the self”
