Art, poetry and music.
Preview: Friday 28th May 2010, 5.30 - 9pm
continues: Saturday 29th - Mon 31st May 2010, 12 - 5pm.
Free entry, picnics welcome!
Karen Le Roy Harris
Artist Statement
My practice investigates three dimensional forms through drawing, photography and sculpture. I address themes and issues surrounding the body and explore ideas of excess and bodies which deviate from the norm. My work evokes paradoxical feelings, combining the abject and seductive; the beautiful and disgusting.
My drawings and photography are excessive and physical. Eva Hesse once stated that making something absurd was “more interesting than making something average, normal, right size, right proportion.” I intend my work to engender a sense of mass, contradictory to our bodily ideals of a tight fixed form, yet still remain seductive. I want my work to appeal to the bodily senses and for the images to collude with the viewer, provoking a physical response.
I have been influenced by artists such as Helen Chadwick and Cathy De Monchaux for their beautiful yet often sinister creations and Kiki Smith because of the very visceral reality of her work. I am also interested in writers such as Julia Kristeva who explores ideas around abjection, and Angela Carter and Georges Bataille whose stories often use a very romanticized language which seduces you into reading them and enjoying some of their unpleasant truths.
My photography has been inspired by painters such as Rubens who expressed sexuality not simply through the subject, but also as a direct result of the method in which he painted. Through my photography I construct images, which reflect the ambience and sensuality that is expressed in Baroque painting and through my choice of colour and materials I create photographs that engender a painterly quality.
My most recent work continues to explore drawing. I am currently looking at costume design and staging photography that is influenced by 'Vanita' paintings and Baroque painters such as Caravaggio. My practice has begun to explore more figurative imagery with a departure from more abstract forms yet still maintaining previous qualities and concepts.
Karen Le Roy Harris's portfolio
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.jpg "Confined")
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Karen Le Roy Harris's exhibition history
November 2009
The Grand Hotel
One night only event from 5.30pm - 10pm.
Exhibition and sale of artwork
For one night only the Red Dot Sale will be held at The Grand Hotel. If you’re hungry for some good art, then this is the place to be. The...
April 2009 – November 2009
La Hougue Bie
An art exhibition at La Hougue Bie by Hautlieu Students. The work was part of a project at La Hougue Bie where the students worked on site and in reponse to their surroundings.
Also, exhibiting alongside the students isa href="http://www...
August 2009
A collection of work by Karen Le Roy Harris which addresses the body. The selection of work looks at her earlier more abstract work to her more recent descent into figurative imagery. You'll notice this transition and how her ideas have changed...
August 2009
A lot has changed is the past 100 years. From the personal computer to the high-definition television, we are surrounded by objects and gadgets that arguably make our lives at work more manageable and pleasurable. No one from the past could...
July 2009 – August 2009
Bath Street (opp. Mother Earth)
As part of the Open Studios a group of artists will be exhibiting their work in an empty shop on Bath Street, transforming it into a interesting and visually engaging space. The exhibition has been put together by the Jersey Arts Trust.
p...
July 2009
Contemporary artwork, by two young local artists, a taster of what's to come at the Street Art exhibition at Hilgrove street on Friday and Saturday.
A series of photographs by Karen inspired by traditional baroque vanita paintings that...
July 2009
Hilgrove Street
Contemporary Jersey Artists bring art to the street
A group of contemporary Jersey artists will be out on the streets showcasing their work. Hilgrove street (at the back of Monsoon and Next) is to be transformed into a space for...
July 2009
Hautlieu School
Karen has been artist in residence, as well as taught workshops at Hautlieu school, she will now be exhibiting a large body of work at the school. Karen will be exhibiting some of her older pieces up to her most current work that is influenced by...
January 2009 – February 2009
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Karen Le Roy Harris was invited to be part of a group exhibition.
"The much admired 2006 show, Drawing Room, rides again with a wide and varied selection of new drawings by RWA Academicians alongside recent UWE honours graduates, artists...
October 2008 – November 2008
Karen's work focuses on ways in which to represent the body in a non-traditional manner and addresses themes and issues related predominantly to the female body. Through drawing, photography and sculpture she investigates three dimensional forms...
October 2008
Various Locations
Drawn Out is a series of five island based events to support the national campaign for drawing throughout October 2008. It will consist of free workshops across the island that simply need participation. The work will be non permanent, destroyed...
June 2007
An exhibition of Karen's earlier work explores mark making and movement through painting. The work is both representational and abstract. Looking at and painting places, she then disects marks made within those paintings. Thes marks ransform into...
June 2007
University of the West of England, Bristol
Postgraduate Exhibition featuring 13 artists studying a Masters in MA Research by project. The Masters course placed emphasis on research into each individuals practice. Each artists work researches a variety of themes and concepts across a range...
September 2006
Old Magistrates Courtroom
This year for the first time the talents of Jersey art and design graduates will be on show in the Island at an exhibition entitled ‘The Lock Down,’ a suitable title for it's location at the Old Magistrates Courtroom in St. Helier.
The...
March 2006 – April 2006
Sherwell Gallery, Plymouth
Drawing About, as the title suggests, expresses the idea that drawing can be extended beyond the boundaries of convention. The artists' work engages in drawing as its central activity and reflects how the medium retains its power as a tool for...
June 2005
University of the West of England, Bristol
Work presented by graduating students from the BA (Hons) degree in Drawing and Applied Arts at UWE Bristol.
"Diverse in outcomes and application, all of the work engages in drawing as its central activity and as such reflects how a new...
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January 2005 – February 2005
Art Gallery at Hengrove School, Bristol
This exhibition is brought together by Artist group DRAW.
The group are brought together by their mutual appreciation of and passion for drawing. The work explores contemporary ideas and engages in drawing as its central activity. The...
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