Karen Birkin
Fractured self
Imagine yourself as a mosaic - each shard a memory, each fragment a story. Identity is fragmented, nonlinear, imperfect. Through collage, artists reassemble past and present into visual diaries, embracing the messiness of memory to reveal a self that is ever-evolving, resilient, and beautifully incomplete.
View SeriesKaren Birkin
Karen Birkin’s work entwines personal identity, nature, and ancestral memory into a quiet, contemplative force. Living by the Welsh coast, her practice draws from Celtic mythology and animist belief, where all things possess spirit.
Her intimate portraits and dreamlike landscapes explore motherhood, transformation, and the delicate threads that bind us to each other and the land. Inspired by Rimbaud and Bachelard, Birkin captures “intimate immensity”—a vastness within the small—inviting us into a world of reflection, reverie, and soulful connection.
Episode
Explore the artist's work, stories, and experiences tied to this episode's theme.
“I’m interested in all kinds of space, especially interiority—whether it’s the inward gaze suggested by closed eyes or headphones, or a sense of voyeurism, as if we’re witnessing something private."
- Karen Birkin
Emily Wearing Headphones, 2021
In Emily Wearing Headphones (2021), Karen Birkin captures a moment of quiet introspection. Emily, eyes closed, seems lost in sound, her headphones a gateway to an inner world. The softness of Birkin’s brushstrokes blurs Emily into the background, evoking the feel of a memory—intimate and tender. This is Birkin’s gift: she paints not just what we see, but what we feel. Her work invites us to reflect on our own moments of retreat, where we go to listen, to feel, to be. It’s a quiet reminder of the beauty found in stillness and interior life.
Deep Sleep, 2024
Emily, nestled in a sea of white sheets, shares the frame with a black cat curled protectively by her side. The scene radiates quiet intimacy—a moment of deep, unguarded rest. Karen Birkin's brushwork softens the boundaries between subject and setting, making Emily’s slumber feel like part of the natural world itself. The cat, with its sharp yellow gaze, feels like a sentinel, watching over Emily’s dreamscape. Birkin invites us to linger in this duality: stillness and vigilance, vulnerability and quiet
"I try to create an atmosphere in the work, sometimes of suspense - a feeling that we are voyeurs on a private scene or that we are being watched - sometimes just the overpowering beauty of a moment held in time. I have worked in film and my husband is a writer/director so I think its language is a natural part of my creative thinking."
- Karen Birkin
“I am fascinated with clouds and sea and the way they are lit (...) People say there’s a feeling of solitude in my work. It comes from my delight in being immersed in the natural world. I’m also inspired by the people l love, moments of sadness or happiness that I catch and relive through the action of painting - for instance, our daughter Emily."
- Karen Birkin
Featured Artist
Meet the artist featured in this episode—explore their profile & artworks.
More Works By: Karen Birkin
Next Episode
Keep exploring—head to the next episode to discover more.
Chloe Quenum
Chloé Quenum translates cultural memory into mutable forms, using everyday objects to reflect diasporic identity, displacement, and the layered meaning of belonging.
View Episode