Talking Points: Karen Wicks
Why do artists choose certain materials, and how do these choices help us understand their work?
Karen Wicks often draws old, derelict buildings, choosing materials that help her capture their rough surfaces and atmosphere. She experiments with printmaking, where unexpected marks and textures can appear as she works. She uses these moments of chance and builds up layers to create artworks that feel worn and fragile, much like the buildings she is capturing
Read the following text, then use the images and questions to begin a discussion about the work of Karen Wicks.
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Karen Wicks
“My practice has developed out of a love of surface and process and through trying to find a medium to record and express my fascination with sense of place and the memories that can be held from previous human habitation. I have always been interested in pushing print processes and using them in ways that perhaps are not standard. For me, making art is about recording your ideas but in a way that is non-permanent.
Collagraph printing always reveals surprises and I think that is why I continue to explore its limits: by using household packaging to create intaglio ‘drawings’ I like to incorporate the accidental and play with what can make marks. I also like that there is zero waste from using low-fi print methods at home: everything can be recycled.” – HAUS-A-REST
Her work is inspired by derelict buildings and captures the presence and intrigue of these abandoned structures using intaglio print techniques. Her work uses recycled packaging which becomes fragile and disintegrates over time, which reflects the subject matter of the ‘ghost buildings’ that inspire her. Ghostbuildings
RAF Tangmere by Karen Wicks Medium: Collagraph Paper Type: Fabriano Unica (250gsm) Year: 2022 Print dimensions: 22.5cm x 22cm
Commodore Hotel, Collagraph print, H 380 x W 280 mm
Commodore Hotel 3/3 by Karen Wicks Tetrapak print, H 280 x W 380 mm
Questions to Ask Students
What kind of mark-making can you see within the print?
How would you describe the tonal range?
What kind of atmosphere do the prints capture? How do you think this has been achieved?
How do you feel when you like at the prints?
What do you like about the work?
Can you name some similarities and differences between the prints made by Karen and prints made by Gail Brodholt?
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