Karen Kraven
-
Elio (Plum, Spruce, Periwinkle)
2022
100% cotton jersey (made in South Korea on linen with polyester thread)
121.92 x 83.82 cm. (48 x 33 in.) -
Poincaré
2022
87% cotton 13% polyester (made in South Korea on linen with polyester thread)
121.9 x 86.4 cm. (48 x 34 in.) -
Umi (Purple, Sand)
2022
83% linen, 17% nylon (made in Italy on cotton linen blend with polyester thread)
121.9 x 86.4 cm. (48 x 34 in.) -
Chiffonnier
2021
Archival pigment print with custom maple frame
61 x 43 cm. (24 x 17 in.) -
Quiltmaker
2021
Archival pigment print with custom maple frame
61 x 43 cm. (24 x 17 in.) -
Fannia
2019
Vinyl and steel
304.8 x 15.2 cm. (120 x 6 in.) -
Leme
2016
Inkjet print
117 x 86 cm. (46 x 34 in.) -
Amphirite
2016
Inkjet print
122 x 91.5 cm. (48 x 36 in.) -
Salacia
2016
Inkjet print
121.9 x 86.4 cm. (48 x 34 in.) -
Hold, 2022
Exhibition view
Foire Papier 2022, Montréal (Canada)
Photo: Jean-Michael Seminaro -
Dust Against Dust, 2019
Exhibition view
Parisian Laundry, Montréal (Canada)
-
a Mucker and a Grinder
2014
Exhibition view
Parisian Laundry, Montreal (Canada) -
Tarp & Tempo
2019
Archival digital prints
127 x 83.8 cm. (50 x 33 in.) each -
Warp & Weft
2019
Archival digital prints
127 x 83.8 cm. (50 x 33 in.) each -
Vanuatu and Ullawatu
2016
inkjet print
124.5 x 79 cm. (49 x 31 in.) each -
Lyon
2019
Silk taffeta, silk thread, powder-coated metal rod
147.3 x 96.5 cm. (58 x 38 in.) -
Como
2019
Taffeta, silk thread, Shantung silk,, powder-coated metal rod
111.8 x 116.8 cm. (44 x 46 in.) -
Eri
2019
Dupioni silk, silk thread, powder-coated metal rod
147.3 x 116.8 cm. (58 x 46 in.) -
Kashmir
2019
Silk organza, silk thread, rayon grosgrain ribbon, powder-coated metal rod
114.8 x 116.8 cm. (57 x 46 in.) -
Byzantine
2019
Silk organza, silk thread, silk grosgrain ribbon, powder-coated metal rod
142.2 x 116.8 cm. (56 x 46 in.) -
Woman sitting at the machine, thinking
2019
Steel and cord
91.4 x 2.5 cm. (36 x 1 in.) -
Hoist, 2022
Exhibition view
Platform Centre, Winnipeg (Canada)
-
Work
2019
Bronze, jeweller's epoxy, steel
22.9 x 15.2 cm. (9 x 6 in.) -
Le Chiffonier / The Ragpicker, 2022
Exhibition view
Axenéo7, Gatineau (Canada)
Photo: John Healey
Biography
Karen Kraven’s work facilitates unexpected encounters between textiles, sculpture, and images, be they uncanny resemblances or misleading juxtapositions. Informed by labour, sport, textile arts, and optical illusion, Kraven’s work investigates the registers of the body– how it is fragmented, unstable, and under constant interrogation. The artist exploits the illusion and seduction found in such pursuits to disguise and distort the body’s appearance–or disappearance–whether obscured, sexualized, or beguiled. Shifting and mutating, her works collapse upon one another, mesmerising us as they reappear enlarged, divided, and flattened. Kraven’s work with textiles is influenced by her family’s knitting factory that stopped manufacturing the year she was born.
Karen Kraven is currently based in Montreal, Quebec, and holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Concordia University (Montreal). Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Axenéo7 (Gatineau), Latitude 53 (Edmonton), the Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland), the Darling Foundry (Montreal), and Mercer Union (Toronto). Recent group exhibitions include the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum (Montreal), Triangle – Astérides (Marseille), and Clint Roenisch Gallery (Toronto).
Born in London, ON
Lives and works in Montreal, QC
Press
-
Public Parking, 2021 | Cycles of Production and Disruption: In Conversation with Karen Kraven
→ Read more -
Espace, 2019 | Karen Kraven et Radek Brousil: Whrrr Whrrr
→ Read more -
C Magazine, 2019 | Karen Kraven: Pins and Needles
→ Read more -
Momus, 2014 | Karen Kraven Nets Meaning in the Threads
→ Read more