Karen Shannon

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Cloth and clay 2024

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Karen is inspired by the energy and essence of the coastal landscape where she lives. The sea-carved chalk cliffs and the fragments of cretaceous chalk reef on the beach, the way the elements and the sea have scoured and shaped surfaces, feed her imagination. The endless sky, the beach, and the air have allowed her the freedom to develop new work.

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For these new wall panels, Karen has developed a paper-based material with which she generates forms and intricate structures. She works these with delicate textures which emulate the qualities of time-worn, weathered and wind-eroded surfaces.

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Each piece evolves organically through an instinctive process. By layering and reworking the materials, patinas of time and memory are revealed. The resulting surfaces incorporate painterly and sculptural elements, enticing the viewer into meditative contemplation of the relationships between form and texture.

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