‘Much of Karen’s work challenges our assumptions and presumptions about the world around us. our tendency to anthropomorphise, our inclination towards the ‘cute’ and ‘pretty’, our desire for the bucolic, and the way in which we seek the ‘cosy’ or sentimental side of life, are useful departure points for some of Karen’s works to react against, turning expectations around in a way that can surprise or shock, and encouraging us to re-examine our value systems and judgements.’
– Kaavous Clayton
'Narcissist', 2018
‘Flip Flop’, 2020
‘Flip-Flop’ began in response to reading about the heart-wrenching scenes of child refugees playing amongst ruins during snowfall wearing only flip-flops on their feet. Playing with scale, a ceramic, child-size flip-flop has been decorated in gold lustre (in contradiction to flip-flop’s cheapness and ubiquity and as an attempt to elevate the status of refugees) and placed in an out of scale ceramic model of an inflatable dinghy – the type of which has become a common sight on TV screens accompanying invariably tragic stories of the plight of refugees trying to reach the shores of the UK. The disparity of scale between the flip-flop and dinghy serves to emphasise the precariousness of their relationship. The floor of the boat has been decorated with a glassy Persian blue base, alluding to the sea, and the colours historical use in Persian pottery.
Karen Densham is not interested in the ‘branding’ of her work or following the traditional linear route of artistic enquiry, like the constant employment of a particular style or a contained theme. ‘This involvement with different materials has provided me with an insight into both applied and fine art traditions; helping me to realise how ‘making’ in it’s broadest sense is central to all areas of creativity, and accordingly, the ‘ideas’ one has tend to evolve from the experience and skills gained from engaging with a particular medium.’ Her work spans a range of media from ceramics to painting, drawing to objects, video to photography. Each shaped and brought together by recurring interests in her field of practice that have long underpinned her varied activity such as function (or denial), gender issues, class, play and the poetic. Her approach is speculative, open ended, and the results are playful and unexpected.
I ENJOY THE POIGNANCY OF THE IMAGES, AND THE CAREFUL BALANCE BETWEEN A KIND OF LUMPENNESS AND FINESSE THAT I THINK CHARACTERISES THESE WORKS. KAREN DENSHAM WANTS TO MAKE PLATES THAT HAVE A POETRY AND IN SEVERAL INSTANCES, I THINK THAT SHE HAS SUCCEEDED.”
– PETER DORMER, 1993
