Karen Pálsdóttir

Available Works

Biography

Karen Pálsdóttir (b.1992, Iceland) investigates fractions of her female subjects by rendering them using only Cobalt blue oil paint. Karen adds a botanical element to my work using a collage-like approach where she crops the reference imagery of her female subjects and overlays them with botanical compositions captured in nature. By painting botanical compositions in blue, Karen explores the historical context that early humans are considered not to have made distinctions between the colors green and blue due to rarity of blue in nature. After collaging her images together, Karen digitally dissects her final image according to value and applies layer by layer onto the surface using oil paint. This repetitive process transfers the information of her reference image from the source to the surface. The accumulated layers of oil paint leave visible traces of the process while creating a life like depth in the portraits while the organic properties of the oil paint primates the rigid digital process. Karen lives and works in New York, USA.

Education

BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, 2013

Press

2021, Karen Pálsdóttir, PxP Contemporary

2021, Karen Pálsdóttir, Tibia Magazine

2021, Karen Pálsdóttir, El Pais

2021, Ludwig Rage Club, Coronart

2020, LED Baltimore, Billboard

2018, Issue #126, New American Paintings

2015, Blog, SFMOMA

Exhibitions

2021, Best of 2021, London Paint Club, Juried Online Exhibition (Group)
2021, Together Through Painting, London Paint Club, Juried Online Exhibition (Group)
2021, Togetherness & Oneness, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA (Group)
2020, As Inside So Outside, YNGSPC, Juried Online Exhibition (Group)
2019, Make Your Mark, The Fridge, Washington, DC, USA (Group)
2017, Four Generations of Icelandic Art, The Icelandic Embassy, Washington, DC, USA (Group)
2016, Launch Pad, Gateway Gallery, Baltimore, MD, USA (Group)
2015, Halleluwah, Mengi, Reyjavkjik, Iceland (Solo)
2014, Thesis Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA (Group)
2013, Félag Íslenskra Listamanna Erlendid, Kaffistofa Gallery, Reykajvík, Iceland (Group)
2013, Formality, Area 405, Baltimore, MD, USA (Group)
2013, Disegno 6: Traveling Drawing Exhibition: MICA, USC, MCAD, KCAI, USA (Group)
2012, Themes and Narrative Exhibition, Fox 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD, USA (Group)
2012, Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, Decker Gallery, Baltimore, MD, USA (Group)