Karen Rubado

Karen Rubado lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. She completed her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 2017. Rubado is interested in the aggregation and transformation of found materials through hand-making. Her enthusiasm lies in the connections between intention and action, the real and imagined, and the imperfection that often characterises the handmade. Inspired by techniques of improvisation within a structure, her weaving practice encourages the unexpected and allows for spontaneity as a catalyst for discovery. She sees this as a subtle form of opposition to the authorial powers of tradition and the expectations emanating from both craft and contemporary art conventions.

Rubado was recently commissioned to produce a work for Te Tuhi and was featured as an emerging artist for “Projects” curated by Gabriela Salgado and Francis McWhannell in the 2018 Auckland Art Fair. Recent exhibitions include soft ware at Melanie Roger Gallery in Auckland (2021), 1924 at Corban Estate in Auckland (2021), and Daisy Chain at The Den Project Space in Christchurch (2021).