Community - Social & Therapeutic

Karen has 25 years of experience in the social and therapeutic arts, from clinical work to outreach, with people of all ages. Her inclusive and sensitive approach enables important and transformative work to take place.

Karen's approach positions audience as participant, community as subject. By bringing together local groups, including the marginalised and meeting with those who do the important work of supporting and advocating, she aims to raise the level of empathy in public space.

Groups that are difficult to reach, and vulnerable people, require dedicated work to make relationships and develop trust with organisations. Due to a willingness to engage and a will to have stories told, over time, self representation occurs.

Karen chooses to explore ordinary life, chronicling hidden narratives, as an antidote to the well- established canon of a public art that is abstract and elite.

Basic human need is highlighted alongside the need for meaningful culture, and the act of making and expressing this is understood as healing for both maker and viewer.