Integral to Karen Camkin’s process is the act of slow looking and finding interest in everyday observations of nature’s lifecycle. She is exploring our interconnectedness and creates a dialogue that is suggestive of both personal and collective memories and feelings, along with a deepening understanding of the value and health-giving properties of time spent in nature, and the potential to positively influence our present human condition.   Her work investigates plants’ close ties to humans through folklores and their medicinal, visual and emotional connotations. Weaving  them into new narratives to reveal something of the contradictions of our domestic and modern lives, along with the wider concern of the fragility of the natural world.   Karen’s practice focuses on the handmade and material quality of making. Her work moves between abstraction and figuration, layered pieces that allow for eyes to wander slowly across the surface, immersing the viewer in the consolations and rich references that can be found in nature. She graduated with distinction from Gloucestershire University with a MA in Fine Art Painting in 2012 and has exhibited in The Lynn Painter Stainer Prize, Discerning Eye, the National Trust, Nature in Art Museum & Gallery and the St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery. She has completed an MA in Print at the RCA, and her work has been selected for the Travers Smith Corporate and Social Responsibility Art Programme 2024-25. Her graduation piece ‘Stay a Little Longer’ was acquired by the Royal College of Art for their permanent Collection.