KAREN OLSON
Photographer I Papermaker | Paper Sculptor
Classes and Workshops
Together, we can build a beautiful partnership with nature, discovering fresh ways to weave our personal stories together with the natural world. When we open our hearts to this journey, something truly wonderful happens — we create a beautiful dance between ourselves and nature. A harmonic relationship begins to emerge.
Lens-Based Artist
Karen Olson is a lens-based artist working at the intersection of human emotion and the natural world. She uses concept-based projects to explore the human-nature connection and its role in fostering mental health and communication. She seeks an open dialog with subjects such as grief, trauma, empathy, and forest bathing. Karen illustrates these multi-sensory experiences with two and three-dimensional works, creating intimate and immersive landscapes that offer the viewer respite and recovery.
2024 Rfotofolio Portfolio Award for “Heart Song
“This exquisite hand-crafted work was thoughtfully conceived and perfectly executed, from the paper-making to the shaping, sculpting, and thoughtful meshing of materials. The result is a meaningful connection to and personal interpretation of the natural world. The dimensionality and tactility of these pieces, utilizing a myriad of natural fibers, work so well together. I appreciate that these layered effects weren’t simply added as adornment, but rather hand-built in deliberate and meaningful ways— ways that reveal strength, vulnerability, and the ephemeral qualities found in the natural world. Each piece has a purpose that works with another piece. Like nature, one seemingly cannot co-exist without the other. This work felt spiritual to me in its use and treatment of natural materials that were so lovingly and expertly sculpted. A vision beautifully realized, this is true artistry and craftsmanship- start to finish.” Diana Bloomfield
— Diana Bloomfield, 2024 Rfotofolio Juror
Gently walking camera in hand through the forests near my home directly connects me to the natural world in an intimate and personal way.
Back in the studio, the act of constructing, deconstructing, and constructing further imitates the natural cycles of growth and decay. Diverse artistic elements are digitally captured, blended, and intertwined. Natural fibers, papers, and photographs are formed and sculpted adding weight and texture. This process helps me make sense of the world, pulls me in, and grounds me.
Guest Artist at Local Color Gallery
A selection of sculptural works using Himalayan Balsam paper will be shown at Local Color Gallery in Belfast, Maine from April 22 - May 18th, 2025
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