ARTIST Karen Wykerd
I use a whole lot of different media for my art: glass, embroidery, acrylic and oil on canvas. The latter is what I use for most of my works but I love the challenge, the others give me.
The central theme of Karen Wykerd’s work is the urban landscape.
She graduated with a diploma in Graphic Design from The Johannesburg College of Art in 1982 followed by a number of years working in the advertising industry.
Wykerd started painting full time in 2008 and one of her main motivations as an artist is the pursuit of light – how it defines a scene and changes the experience of it at any one time. The artist is fascinated how a scene can be entirely different in the morning and then again in the evening. The quote by the artist John Constable: “The sky is the source of light in nature and it governs everything” influences Wykerd in her artworks.
Her aim and wish are to highlight the beauty of the daily commute. These unassuming everyday scenes that become common place due to routine are transformed and elevated through use of colour, light and layers of thin washes. Suddenly the viewer is confronted with something dreamlike and worthy of being documented.
Wykerd’s work strike with dreamily indistinct backgrounds and tranquil colour palettes. This combined give the viewer some kind of rest and reflection; moments where we can be reacquainted with nature, and our selves. Her love for detail is obvious.