Karen Ebbs
Artist
Exploring themes relating to perception, interconnectedness, reality and the human search for meaning.
I bring together elements of my work in my large-scale installations and immersive environments . Here I explore how everything is interconnected and how all things come into being through relationships and interactions. Painting/colour is my way of interpreting and making sense of the world around me. With applications of translucent, opaque and gestural layers of oil paint, colour gives life to the ambiguous forms that grow on canvas and as spatialised, sculptural objects. I use a variety of materials including metals, porcelain, wood, high-density foam and videography.
Art is often seen as having the power to transform, transcend and promote well-being. I feel that it is essential - especially now - to aim at injecting our world with the “audacity of hope”, to uplift however and whenever one can and to offer moments of “pause”.
I draw from my previous experience as a facilitator/counsellor incorporating, Mindfulness, Shiatsu and talking therapy in my workshops. I observed a notable positive impact on mood and overall well-being of participants when colour through painting was introduced. What my experiences have taught me is that life is not a linear procession moving directly towards a set goal but is rather a series of continuous spirals, a search for meaning and the numinous, a messy labyrinth of course corrections and perceptual shifts. Perceptions are, it seems, primed “best guesses” - we “see” what we expect to “see”.
Bringing people together to exchange diverse views is a large part of my practice. I set up a talk series - We Need To Talk About which I programmed and moderated which were held at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios in September 2024, supported by FREESPACE, studio 6 and at IMMA and the Complex Dublin in 2022. These talks featured curators, educators, philosophers, art critics and artists and the topics included Painting, Expanded Painting and Meta-modernism. Please see my Homepage where you will find SoundCloud links to these talks and to my interview by Alan Keane of The Artis's Well.
Studio: Pallas Studios, 157 The Digital Hub, Thomas Street, Dublin
Contact: www.karenebbs.com Instagram: karen.ebbs karenebbs@gmail.com
Member of Pallas Projects + Studios
Professional Member of Visual Artists Ireland since 2006
Member of Artnet Dlr
Allumna of the National College of Art & Design
Alumna of Royal Hibernain Academy School
KAREN EBBS
Curriculum Vitae
www.karenebbs.com Instagram: @karen.ebbs Gmail: karenebbs@gmail.com
Studio: Pallas Studios, 157 The Digital Hub, Thomas Street, Dublin
Selected Education
2023 Masters in Fine Art, Painting National College of Art and Design (First Class)
2021 BA Hons Degree, in Fine Art, Painting, (First Class) Commended, NCAD
2016-19 RHA Drawing, Painting programmes, Self-Directed & Masterclasses
2013-15 Drawing Studio Dublin, Bargue Studies, Drawing Course
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 The Municipal Lexicon Gallery, upcoming solo, Open Call Award September 2025
2024 "Circumambulation", Rathfarnham Castle, 16 November 2024 to 12 January 2025
2023 “Apropos of Everything”, MFA in painting, NCAD, Graduation Show, The Annexe
2022 "I AM more Blue than YOU, YOU ARE more Green than ME”, Farmleigh Estate, OPW, Cowshed Gallery
2022 “Wild Accumulations”, The Lab Gallery, Dublin
2021 “Visual Perception: A Best Guess”, BFA. painting at NCAD
2013 “Rockpools & Constellations”, In Aid of Indreni, Childrens’ Charity, Nepal.
2005/08/09 Solo shows at Dalkey Castle Heritage Centre and The Red Stables, Clontarf
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Art Riddler, One Charlemont Square
2025 "Out of Light", City Assembly House
2025 Court House Gallery, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, curated by Gabhan Dunne
2025 “And Nobody Answered…”, City Assembly House
2025 "Scene & Heard", Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin
2024 Art Riddler, One Charlemont Square
2024 “Crosscurrents”, Project at Lexicon Gallery, Claire Halpin, curator, September 2024
2024 “Duende” curated by Sean Molloy, ArtNetDLR Group Show
2024 “Pallas for Gaza”, Pallas Project +Studios, in aid of United Agency Relief
2024 Draoicht, Shelter Collective, “The Ladder Is Always There”, Invited artist.
2023 “Climate and Health”, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin
2023 Art Riddler, Studio 10 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2
2023 Sculpture In Context, Botanical Gardens, invited artist
2023 Royal Hibernian Academy 193rd Annual Exhibition
2023 Boyle Arts Festival, invited by Sinead Ni Mhaonaigh, curator
2023 “Transience”, Art Net Dlr, Walters Dun Laoghaire
2023 Hang Tough Contemporary, Selected, Winter Print Show, Edition Print Contract
2022 “Painting as Expression”, National Treasury Management Agency, Dublin,
2022 “New Beginnings”, The Lab Gallery,. Co-Curators: Sheena Barrett and Karen Ebbs
2021 Hang Tough Contemporary, Winter Print Show, and Limited Edition Print Contract
2021 “Metamorphosis” Art Net Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin,, (Juried Selection)
2021 “Pluid Project” Farmleigh House OPW,, in aid of Pieta House, Dublin
2021 “Revival”, Art Net Dun Laoghaire,
2021 “Painting in the Pandemic”, National Treasury Management Agency, Dublin
2021 “Transition”, Art Net Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
2021 Hambly & Hambly, Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Hark Winter Show
2019 “Trajectory”, The NCAD Gallery in aid of The Rape Crisis Centre, Dublin
2019 A Quiet Space, Collaborative Well-being project, NCAD
2018 NCAD Sybil Connelly, Dublin, Liminal Space, A Process Space
2014 Pearse Museum, Dublin
2013 The Council of European Union Brussels HQ Justus Lipsius Building
2012 London Design Festival, selected by the Crafts Council of Ireland
2009/10 Gormley’s Fine Art Gallery
Awards & Residencies
2025 TBGS longlisted for 'Faigh Amach' award, open call
2023 Shortlisted for the RDS Visual Arts Awards
2023 Shortlisted for Climate and Health Prize, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
2023 Shortlisted for the Art Riddler prize and exhibition
2023 The Municipal Lexicon Gallery solo show 2025 award - Open Call
2022 The Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award
2022 Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co. Council Professional Development Grant Award
2022 Tyrone Guthrie Residency
2022 Clancy Quay Professional Development Award
2009/10 Cill Rialaig Residency, Co. West Kerry
Public Events, Interviews and Artists Talks
2024 Panel Artist on Seminar RHA in partnership with Bealtaine, November 2024
2024 We Need To Talk about Expanded Painting & Metamodernism,
Talk Series: at TBGS, FREESPACE studio 6
Programmed, moderated and presented by Karen Ebbs
SoundCloud links to the talks.
2024 The Artist's Well, Interviewed by Alan Keane 5 October 2024
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J710Z_BC9BQ
2023 Artist Talk, studio visit by NCAD Studio + students and tutor Taffina Flood
2022 We Need To Talk About Painting (WNTTAP)
Talk Series: At IMMA and The Complex Dublin
Programmed, moderated by Karen Ebbs and co-hosted.
SoundCloud links to the talks
https://soundcloud.com/karen-ebbs/wnttap-complex-talk-241122
https://soundcloud.com/karen-ebbs/wnttap-complex-talk-031122
https://soundcloud.com/karen-ebbs/wnttap-complex-talk-271022
2022 Artist Talk, NCAD, painting department, for second year professional practice
2022 Artist Talk, NCAD, media department, second year professional practice students
2022 Ormond Artists Studios
Publications and Features
2024 Irish Times January 7th 2024, Feature written by Gemma Tipton
2024 Irish Arts Review, featuring “Circumambulation”, solo show at Rathfarnham Castle
2023 Visual Artists Ireland,, Jan/Feb issue. Commissioned by VAI, Joanne Laws.
2023 RHA 193rd Annual Exhibition Catalogue, celebrating 200 years
2021 Art Folio Annual 2022 Award. Publication featuring work
2019 HCE Review Award, UCD,Literary Journal. Featured in the Apr 2019 edition
2019 The Conscious Pebbles, In response to Wolfgang Tillmans' exhibition, NCAD Zine
2012 Hartwick Knapp, curator/art critic, art review, “Ebbs’ Emotional Painting”
Collections
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MJF Interiors, Dublin
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Seachange Now, Brendan Foley, Director, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
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Michael Sheil Solicitors, Blackrock, Dublin
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Blackrock Essential Training, Dublin
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Stelfox Recruitment, Dublin
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Avoca Clinic, Co. Wicklow
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OPW acquired for Tullamore Courthouse and Cobh Social Welfare Office
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Turning Point, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
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Book Cover Painting Design, “Peacemonger”, Author, Paddy McMahon (deceased)
Memberships
Pallas Projects & Studios member
Alumna of the National College of Art & Design
Alumna of the Royal Hibernian Academy School
Visual Artists Ireland, Professional Membership
Art Net Dun Laoghaire, Professional Membership