Statement - Waters Edge
The paintings and drawings in this exhibition represent my work over the last couple of years, forming two distinct series - Still Water and Coastlines.
Painting water excites my interest in a number of ways; its depiction as a vast flat space or the intimacy of a close ripple, its suggestion of emotional depths and its usefulness in creating unity on the canvas as water reflects sky.
“Landscape” is my subject, though the approaches that I take as I explore its themes are as varied as the places themselves, from the weather bashed wild coasts to the still dark waters of inland reservoirs and glittering wetlands.
It offers me the freedom to create something out of space and light and infuse it with feeling. Landscape also provides me with a solid ground for observational studies in form.
I continually ask myself what “landscape” is? Is it “out there” or “in here”? It has been said that “landscape does not exist, it can only be perceived.” That intrigues me as I work to understand how paint can be used to transmit emotion. My present work seems to be a continual process of building up structure in paint only to make it dissolve into colour and light and space, searching beyond the surface.
Memories both inform and form my main source material, supported by small drawings, photographs and some colour studies. Sometimes I work out compositions in the studio using charcoal, sometimes using collage to re-plot the original shapes into something new; I like to be inventive. So for me specific locations are the starting point in which to explore paint’s expressive potential.
Welcome to the Karen Pearce site.
Biography
Karen lives in Aberystwyth on the west coast of Wales, having moved there during her childhood in the 1960’s. She works in a studio at her home above the town where she lives with her family.
Karen trained at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1998 and was awarded a BA in Fine Art and a postgraduate MA two years later. During her time as a student she was awarded two prizes for painting including a Royal Academy Landscape Scholarship for travel. After graduating she worked as a tutor for the University, until last year when she stopped teaching altogether in order to concentrate full time on her painting. She has exhibited widely in England and Wales.
Selected exhibitions
Albany Gallery, Cardiff
Oriel Theatr Clwyd, Mold (Picturemakers Show) 2010
Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge 2009
Fountain Fine Art, Llandeilo
Attic Gallery Swansea 2008
Oriel Bont, Aberystwyth
St Davids Studio Gallery
Oriel Plas Gwyn Y Weddw, Llanbedrog 2007
Stark Gallery Cantebury 2006
Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth
Atticus, Bath
Stark Gallery, London SW12, Autumn Group Show 2005
Glasgow Contemporary Art Fair (with Stark Gallery) 2005
Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge 2005
Oriel Theatr Clwyd, Mold : (fforma group show) 2005
Attic Gallery, Swansea 2004, 05
St. Davids Concert Hall, Foyer Gallery 2004
Oriel Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan 2004
Y Tabernacl, Machynlleth :( fforma group show) 2003,4
Wales drawing Biennale 2003
MA Show, School of Art, UWA 2003
National Eisteddfod of Wales, Denbigh 2002
Degree Show, School of Art UWA 2001
National Botanic Garden of Wales, 2000
“Art of the Garden” National Gardens Scheme
Millennium Exhibition, Lampeter University, 2000
St David’s Hall, Cardiff. 1994,5
Anderson Gallery, Broadway 1995
“A Room Full of Flowers” – A Dyfed County Council Touring Exhibition. 1993
Attic Gallery, Swansea.1993
CCA Galleries, Bath.1993
Anna Mei Chadwick, London, 1990