About

Karen Aarre is a Norwegian/British visual artist, born in London in 1972. She is currently living and working in Oslo, Norway.

She has studied at Faculdade das Belas Artes (Faculty of Visual Arts), University of Lisbon, Portugal, and at De Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (The Free Academy of Visual Arts), the Hague, the Netherlands. She also holds a doctorate (DPhil) in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, UK, and has several years experience working in documentary film prior to her artistic career.

She is a member of NBK, LNM, BO, and her work is part of several public and private collections.

Artist statement

For close to 15 years, I have focused on plants, gardens and man-made landscapes through painting, drawing and intaglio printing. I explore the intersection between the natural and the man-made, the wild and the tamed, nature and culture, the eternal and the transitory. My work seeks to highlight the magical encounters between people and nature - where the senses are awakened, and where wonder, contemplation, poetry and imagination arise.

Parks and gardens are often the starting point for my work. These planted green spaces tell complex stories about science, power, oppression and status, but also about human needs, artistic expression, dreams, joy and imagination. I also draw inspiration and knowledge from my previous studies in social anthropology, and experience that the method of participant observation is analogous with my work as an artist.

Aside from my botanical work, I am also a portrait artist, and regularly take commissions.