Artist statement
Karen Wallis draws and paints the everyday world. She is curious about the role of images and how they are perceived by the viewer, in particular how visual rhetoric influences their perceptions through historical reference, methods of display and curatorial input.
Her recent three year residency at The Holburne Museum, during its closure for redevelopment, has added a further interest in the artist’s relationship with people in a working environment and the physical experience of ‘being there’ over a long period of time. She has always enjoyed interacting through her work, with both people and places, and reflection on this residency is providing the stimulus to push her current practice beyond its normal boundaries.
Although Karen’s work is rooted in figurative painting and drawing, she also engages in projects that extend into installation, intervention, performance and digital media. Reading on aesthetics and philosophy informs her practice but the visual element always leads any theoretical input. Her PhD (Painting & Drawing the Nude: a search for a realism of the body through phenomenology & fine art practice - UWE Bristol, 2003) embraced a broad range of art practice in a variety of venues, supported by texts on phenomenology, hermeneutics and alterity.
Karen lives and works in Bath and is an Artist Member with the RWA in Bristol. She takes an active interest in provision for visual art in the area. Having been Chair of BANA (Bath Area Network for Artists) from 2003 until 2006, she is currently an external trustee for Bath Artists’ Studios.
Current and forthcoming events
- January - December 2013: Drawing journal, Karen Wallis, Bath (more info)
- March - June 2013: RWA Drawing Lab residency, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (more info)
Qualifications and training
- 2002 Practice-based PhD in Fine Art and Aesthetics, University of the West of England, Bristol (more info)
Solo exhibitions
- 2011 Drawing The Development, The Holburne Museum, Bath (more info)
- 2011 Karen Wallis: Views and Observations, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath (more info)
- 2009 Karen Wallis - selected & rejected, Bath Artists' Studios Gallery, Bath
- 2006 Painting on TV, Hotbath Gallery, Bath (more info)
- 2002 PhD exhibition, UWE, Bristol
- 2002 Mixing Paint, Bridport Art Centre
- 1999 Now you see me ..., Black Swan Guild, Frome
- 1998 Work arising from research, University of the West of England, Bristol
Group exhibitions
- 2012 The Holburne Portrait Prize, The Holburne Museum, Bath (more info)
- 2011 159th Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (more info)
- 2010 The Big Draw Self-Portrait Drawing Show, Chapel Row Gallery, Bath (more info)
- 2010 The Holburne Portrait Prize 2010, Chapel Row Gallery, Bath
- 2008 A Collector's Cabinet, Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Bath (more info)
- 2008 Royal West of England Academy 156 Autumn Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
- 2008 The Holburne Portrait Prize 2008, Chapel Row Gallery, Bath (more info)
- 2007 Open View, BANA (Bath Area Network for Artists), Bath
- 2006 Valued, The Chapel Row Gallery, Bath
- 2006 The Three Graces Speak, Beauty and The Beast, Stourhead, Wiltshire (more info)
- 2005 paintvoxbox for Electric Pavilion, Watershed, Bristol
- 2005 Open View, BANA (Bath Area Network for Artists), Bath
- 2004 Royal West of England Open, RWA, Bristol
- 2004 Naked, RWA, Bristol
- 2004 eak-art 'at home' in Home, curated by Eshoda Arts, Hotbath Gallery, Bath
- 2003 Into the Light - BANA showcase exhibition, Hotbath Gallery, Bath
- 2003 An intervention through drawing, Belonging to Man, Frome Festival
- 2002 The Female Line, Sherborne House, Dorset
- 2001 House Work, installation in an empty house, Bath Fringe Festival
- 2001 In Theory, collaborative work as 'eak-art', Churchill House, Bath
- 1999 In House Twice, two private houses in Bath, Bath Fringe Festival
- 1999 Bedales Art and Design, Art 99, Business Design Centre, London
- 1998 In House First Time, private house in Bath, Bath Fringe Festival
- 1997 Taunton Drawing Open, Somerset
- 1996 Cheltenham Drawing Open, Gloucestershire
- 1995 Artist as Teacher, Hot Bath Gallery, Bath
Live/Performance
- 2008 Art in Action, Art in Action, Oxford (more info)
Intervention
- 2009 paintvoxbox Offline, Creative Practice/Creative Research Conference, York St John University
- 2007 paintvoxbox offline tour, Launched at The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
- 2007 The Three Graces Go Live, Bath Fringe, out and about soliciting opinion on the visual art exhibitions and events
- 2006 The Three Graces gallery visits, eak-arts critiques of exhibitions - published online, eak-art.co.uk/current.html
- 2004 Graceful Moments, eak-art in Bath Fringe Festival, Bath
- 2004 Interventions in a pleasant manner, eak-art at Interdisciplinary Landscapes conference, University College Northampton
Artist talks
- 2011 Drawing The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath Artists' Studios, Bath (more info)
- 2007 Attitude and Perception, Widcombe Studios and Bradford Art Society, Bath and Bradford on Avon (more info)
- 2006 Style or Substance?, Widcombe Studios, Bath (more info)
Workshops
- 2007 Arts and Kids schools workshops, Merlin Theatre and Black Swan Arts, Frome, Somerset
- 2006 Naked Bodies, The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
Residencies
- 2012 EVA project commission, Aune Head Arts, Bath (more info)
- 2012 Ghosts in The Garden, Splash & Ripple, The Holburne Museum
- 2008 Drawing The Holburne Museum of Art, The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath (more info)
Projects
- 2007 paintvoxbox offline, various art venues, Bath, Bristol and beyond... (more info)
- 2006 paintvoxbox for Beauty and The Beast, Hotbath Gallery with The National Trust, Stourhead, Wiltshire
- 2006 ongoing collaborative interventions in a pleasant manner, eak-art, online at www.eak-art.co.uk
- 2005 paintvoxbox, Electric Pavilion at Watershed, Bristol (more info)
Educational experience - tertiary
- 2002 Visiting Lecturer in Visual Culture, University of the West of England, Bristol (more info)
Site specific
- 2006 eak-arts Shopping bags at South Central, Southgate Shopping Centre, Bath
- 2005 Old (shopping) Bags, eak-art in Bath Fringe Festival, Bath
- 2003 Permission to Picnic, eak-art in Queen Square, Bath
Publications
- 2012 Illustrations for Ghosts in The Garden booklet, by Steve Poole for Splash and Ripple
- 2012 A Purpose for Purposelessness? Seeking a role for perceptual drawing in historical research. Published in The Regional Historian journal, UWE, Bristol
- 2011 Drawing The Development
Other
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Personal website
