Karen Black is a Sydney-based artist whose work occupies the scope of human relations through physical and psychological encounters. Her work engages with the tensions and contradictions of desire, emotion and the self. Working across painting, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, she transforms traditional representations of the body and portraiture through abstraction. Often ambiguous, Black’s work contains an intimacy and vulnerability that comes from her interest in radical care and gentleness.

Select solo exhibitions: A ring for a squared circle, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2024; Gentle Pulse, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney, 2022; Pressure Points, Melbourne Art Fair, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2022; Arepo, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2022; The Cook and Her Driver, Karen Black and Virginia Leonard, Gertrude Glasshouse, Melbourne, 2020; Riding a blue horse, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2019; An Ordinary Poetry, Sullivan+Strumpf, Singapore, 2017; Temporary Arrangements, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2017; Crown, Legs, Arms, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2016; Making Do, Sydney Contemporary, 2015; Piece of Wood, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney, 2015; Peace is guilty, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne, 2014.

Select group exhibitions: Thresholds, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), Albury, NSW, 2024; Once more with feeling, Ngununggula, NSW, 2023; Thin Skin, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, 2023; Zombie Eaters, Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA), Albury, NSW, 2022; Art in conflict, organised by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra and touring nationally, 2022–2025; The Archibald, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2021; The Archibald, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2020; Craftivism. Dissident Objects and Subversive Forms, Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria and touring nationally, 2018-2020; New Woman, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane, 2019; Beyond Reason. Exploring the logic of the imagination, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, 2018; Shut Up and Paint, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2016; Painting, More Painting, ACCA, Melbourne, 2016; Borders, barriers, walls, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA), Melbourne, 2016; Glazed and confused, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW, 2015.