KARLEEN GWINNER

"The work is a silent dialogue between what was and what may be, a reminder that the pulse of water is both a source of life and a force of inevitable change."

 

As a curator, Karleen views exhibition-making as a responsive ecology—a way to foster dialogue between people, place, and the natural world. Her artistic practice often explores the "liminal" spaces of our existence, using nature as a mirror for both personal and collective transition. This exhibition Aqua Limina, has grown out of her passion for water, and her observations of this fascinating element's sentinel being/ness.

 

In Rising Tide, Karleen explores the precarious threshold where the terrestrial meets the aquatic. This semi-abstract work presents a deliberate ambiguity: a horizontal surge that could be interpreted as the silhouette of ancient mountains against a darkening sky, or the relentless encroachment of water lapping onto the earth.

 

The painting serves as a visual meditation on climate change and the deep-time history of our landscape. By blurring the line between land and sea, Karleen references the "millennium past", a time when the very ground we stand upon was submerged, while simultaneously pointing toward a future of rising tides. Through the tactile depth of oil paint, the work invites the viewer to consider water not just as a resource, but as a powerful, shifting boundary that dictates the survival of our ecosystems and the memories held within the earth.