Karen Elkington studied fine art at RPSA Cape Town and graduated with distinction in 2021. In the last year she has taken part in a number of prestigious group exhibitions and had a successful solo show. She is primarily a painter who moves between the figurative and abstract to create impactful imagined scenes which offer a commentary.
Artist statement: Entangled
Karen Elkington has ‘entangled’ elements of rooms with landscapes to comment on the impact of our high consumption lifestyles on our fragile environment. The red couch in both paintings suggests our collective apathy regarding environmental crisis. The images are gently deceptive; a sense of disquiet pervades the seemingly idylic imagery of palm fronds, distant shores and shimmering skies. The words house of the rising sun and earthly renovations point to the conflict between human expansion and nature. We threaten our beautiful earth at the same time that we are dwarfed by its incredible power. We are inextricably entangled with the natural world.
Karen Elkington April 2023
