Karen Kraven

Karen Kraven

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.)
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
a Mucker and a Grinder
2014
Exhibition view
Parisian Laundry, Montreal (Canada)
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.)
Vanuatu and Ullawatu
2016
inkjet print
124.5 x 79 cm. (49 x 31 in.) each
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
La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux, 2021
Exhibition view
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Hoist
2022
Exhibition view
Platform Centre, Winnipeg (Canada)
Woman sitting at the machine, thinking
2019
Steel and cord
91.4 x 2.5 cm. (36 x 1 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.)
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
a Mucker and a Grinder
2014
Exhibition view
Parisian Laundry, Montreal (Canada)
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.)
Vanuatu and Ullawatu
2016
inkjet print
124.5 x 79 cm. (49 x 31 in.) each
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
La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux, 2021
Exhibition view
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal (Canada)
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Hoist
2022
Exhibition view
Platform Centre, Winnipeg (Canada)
Woman sitting at the machine, thinking
2019
Steel and cord
91.4 x 2.5 cm. (36 x 1 in.)

Biography

Karen Kraven’s work sets up unexpected encounters between sculpture and images, uncanny resemblances and misleading juxtapositions. Informed by textiles, labour, sports and optical illusion, her work investigates the registers of the body; how it is fragmented, unstable and under interrogation. Kraven 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, the works collapse upon one another, mesmerizing us as they reappear enlarged, divided and flattened. Her work with textiles is influenced by her father’s (and his father’s) knitting factory that stopped manufacturing the year she was born.

Born in London, ON

Lives and works in Montreal, QC

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