BORN

Sydney, Australia, 1971

Lives and works in Melbourne

EDUCATION

2013    Graduate Certificate in Visual Art. Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Melbourne University

2012    1st year of Diploma of Visual Arts. CAE, Melbourne

1995    Bachelor of Dramatic Art (Design). National Institute of Dramatic Arts, NIDA

1990    1st year of Bachelor of Visual Arts. Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney 

EXHIBITIONS

2015    Group show, Paint V2, Melbourne Arts Club

2015    Group show, Emerging Arts Australia, Hogan Gallery, Melbourne

2015    Group Show, House and Universe, Private House,         Melbourne

2013    Group Show, Student Gallery, Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Melbourne

2012    Group Show, Brunswick St Gallery, CAE selected works

1996    Group Show, Beyond The Lights, Westpac Gallery, Victorian Arts Centre

            Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane

            Westpac Museum, Sydney

            Albury Regional Museum, Albury

            Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide

Karen Thorn came to her practice later in life after the birth of her third child. Having trained as a theatre designer and worked in both theatre and film, Karen has also lectured at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Karen started to use video drawing and painting as a way of documenting her performances and as a medium to explore the darker side of mothering. External landscapes become metaphors for internal dialogue. Daily routines become rituals, and everyday objects become the psyche and interior self. Karen Thorn’s work pushes back against a sense of drowning and overcrowding that motherhood can bring to reclaim her personal space.