Karen studied jewellery, industrial design and cultural history in the UK at Birmingham City University and the Royal College of Art and at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington DC. Alongside a career in the history and interpretation of built heritage, she has been a compulsive maker with metal as her principal focus.
Karen’s work explores several lines of enquiry prompted by her investigation of cultural heritage in work assignments and by everyday encounters with natural and man-made forms. These have led to a range of projects including bowls, containers, brooches and hinged cuffs. She works in a variety of materials, including base metals as well as recycled silver and gold.
Karen reduces form to essential elements. Colour and pattern are important, expressed through the application of vitreous enamel and textured surfaces. She avoids conventional notions of preciousness in jewellery – the preoccupation with high value metals, faceted stones and reflective surfaces – preferring more muted exteriors, which allow focus on qualities of depth, meaning and personal content.
Background
After first graduating, Karen worked for BBC Television, making models and special effects for programmes. Returning to study, she completed a Masters at the RCA, during which she researched the output of George Walton, a contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, subsequently publishing a monograph on the designer.
Later, in parallel with further writing on Western architecture, she worked as a consultant on cultural heritage in Africa, where she lived for 13 years. There she advised on conservation needs, better management of heritage resources to improve livelihoods, and researched archaeological and architectural sites to produce guidebooks and site signage.
These experiences provide a rich source of inspiration, feeding into her current practice as a designer of contemporary jewellery and metalwork.