Karen Olson - Bio and CV
Karen Olson is an interdisciplinary artist working across photography, handmade paper, artist books, and sculpture. Rooted in an attentiveness to place, her work explores how perception, memory, emotion, and our relationship with the landscape shape the ways we experience ourselves and one another.
Drawing from time spent walking and observing the forests and trails near her home in Maine, as well as landscapes encountered through travel and residencies, Karen gathers photographs, plant fibers, natural materials, and sensory impressions that become the foundation for her work. Through layered two- and three-dimensional forms, she considers material not simply as a medium, but as an active participant in the creative process. Her work invites a slower kind of looking—one grounded in curiosity, presence, and connection.
Karen’s work has been exhibited and featured by the Griffin Museum of Photography, Maine Museum of Photographic Art, Art New England, Maine Magazine, and One Twelve Publishing, among others. She received the Rfotofolio Portfolio Award in 2024, was named one of Maine Magazine’s 18 Up-and-Coming Maine Artists to Watch, and was selected as a Photolucida Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist in 2026. Her immersive solo exhibition and installation, The Embrace, was presented at Waterfall Arts in 2022.
Alongside her studio practice, Karen is an educator and mentor, leading workshops, retreats, and online learning experiences that bring together creative practice, material exploration, and an attentive relationship with place. Her online masterclass, Focus and Flow, was released with Take Two Arts in 2025. She is a certified Forest Therapy Guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and serves as Web Editor and a board member of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA).
EXHIBITIONS
2026 Ruby Jubilee, Biennale, International Association of Papermakers and Paper Artists, Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Denmark
2026 Interwoven, Group Show, Triangle Gallery, Rockland, Maine
2026 Hello Neighbor, Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire
2026 Narrative Threads, Abecedarian Books, Baylor Library
2025 Landscape, A. Smith Gallery, Online exhibition, Included in “The 27”
2025 Come Summer, Midcoast Maine Book Arts Group Show, Camden Library, Maine
2025 Maine Museum of Photographic Art, Women in Print
2025 Local Color Gallery, Guest artist
2024 Portfolio Award, Rfotofolio, Online exhibition, Juror Diana Bloomfield
2024 Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, In the Making, Portland, ME
2024 Pulp to Pages, Academic Commons on the University of Denver, Abecedarian Artists Books
2024 Local Color Gallery Guest Artist, Feb to April
2024 Glickman Library, Book Arts Group Show, University of Maine
2023 Art Doc Photography Magazine, Online Exhibition - Through My Lens
2023 Carver Hill Gallery, Group Show, Camden, Maine
2023 Micheal Good Gallery, Structure and Narrative, Group Show, Rockport, Maine
2023 Paper Alive! International Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists Congress Exhibition, Dresden, Germany
2023 Guest Artist, Local Color Gallery, Belfast, Maine
2023 Tree Speech, Group Exhibition, Cove Street Arts, Portland, Maine
2022 Shifting Sequences, Maine Magazine Exhibition, Jurors Hilary Irons, Anjuli Lebowitz, Timothy Peterson, Samantha Butler
2022 Compendium, Group Show, George Marshall Gallery, Juror Lauren Szumita
2022 Unspoken Word, Midcoast Maine Book Arts Group Show, Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill, Maine
2022 Solo Show, Waterfall Arts, Belfast, Maine, Program Director Amy Tingle
2022 Float Photo, Photo Not Photo online exhibition, Jurors Jennifer Marion and Andre Ramos-Woodward
2021 Griffin Museum of Photography, Members Show
2021 LA Photo Curator 2021 Top Forty, Curator Laurie Freitag
2021 Selected Artist 2021, Rfotfolio, Juror, Diana Bloomfield
2021 Feature Artist Show, Sweethaven Gallery, Newburyport, MA, Aug-Sept
2021 Online Feature and Article by Deb Dawson, The Antidote, Maine Museum of
Photographic Arts, Portland, Maine
2021 Group Show, Maine Photography Show, Juror Bruce Brown
2021 Behind the Lens, Women in Photography, Rhode Island Center for
Photography
2021 NY Photo Curator, Transformations, Juror, Anne Kelly
2021 Virtual Gallery Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Jan 7-Feb 14,
2020 Annual Photobook Show, Davis Orton Gallery and Griffin Museum of
. Photography, Jurors Karen Davis and Paula Tognarelli
2020 Glimmer, Group Show, Gallery Sitka, Shirley, Mass, Juror Melissa Richard
2020 Online Feature, The Antidote, Maine Museum of Photographic Arts
2020 Group Show, Torpedo Arts Center, 'In My Head, In my Body', Juror Shanti
Norris
2020 Group Show, Griffin Museum of Photography, Juror Alexa Dilworth
2020 Online Exhibition, On Winter's Margin, Overexposed Magazine
2020 Group Show, The Heart Goes Nine, Rhode Island Center for photography,
Juror Sybylla Smith
2020 Group Show, Mirror Image, Don’t Take Pictures Online Exhibition
2020 Honorable Mention, Group Show, Maine Photography Show, Juror Greg Rec
2019 Group Show, Online exhibition, Black and White, Photo Place Gallery, Juror
Jennifer Schlesinger
2019 Two Person Show, Hidden Dimensions, The Art Loft, Rockland, Maine
2018 Two Person Show, If Only in a Dream, The Art Loft, Rockland, Maine
AWARDS AND HONORS
2026 Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist, International Juried Selection, Photolucida, Portland, Oregon
2026 Edge of Humanity Magazine, Online Feature
2025 Any Thing Community, Feature Artist
2023 Confluence, IAPMA Bulletin #62
2022 Maine Magazine, 18 Up and Coming Maine Artists, September 2022
2021 Feature Article, Poignant Pics, One Twelve Publishing, Author, Diana Nicletter Jeon
2021 Feature Article, Art New England magazine, Author Deb Hemley
2021 Feature Story, Online Publication, Creative Maine Magazine
2021 Three Featured Images, The Hand Magazine
2020 Between Two Worlds-Processing Grief and Trauma, A Visual Companion, Self
Published Book
2019 Two Featured Images, The Hand Magazine
2017 Instagram Feature, Bella Grace Magazine,
2017 Group Feature, Mingle Magazine
2016 Feature Article, Artful Blogging Magazine
2015 PhotoTherapy: Processing Emotion with Photography, Self Published Book
REPRESENTATION
2025 Maine Museum of Photographic Arts
COLLECTIONS
2026 Baylor Library, Rivers Speak in Voltage, Artist Book
2025 by Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka Kansas, Grounded in Community, Artist Book,
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
2025 Maine Museum of Photographic Art, artist talk
2025 Friday Feature Artist, Fibre Arts Take Two, Online Interview
2024 Filming for Masterclas with Fibre Arts Take Two
2023 Friday Feature Artist, Fibre Arts Take Two, Online Interview
2022 Artist Talk on the Trail, Head of Tide Trail, Coastal Mountains Land Trust, Sponsor
2022 The Drop, Water Arts Podcast
2021 Photographic Reasource Center PRC Nights, Photo As Object, Somerville, MA
2021 Video Interview with Laura Valenti, Workshop addition
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2026 Workshop Instructor, Linda Laino Host, San Miguel de Allende
2026 Workshop Instructor, Italiana Tours, Le Marche, Italy
2026 Instructor, Online Masterclass, Paperlab
2026 Instructor, Online Master Class, Take Two Arts
2025 Instructor, Papermaking, Heart of Ellsworth
2025 Workshop Instructor, Touchstone Retreats, Fiber College, Maine
2025 Forest Therapy Guide Certification, Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides
2025 Instructor, Online Master Class, Fibre Arts Take Two
2024 Workshop Instructor, Touchstone Retreats, Fiber College, Maine
2024 Juror, IAPMA Biennale 2024
2022 - Present Web-Editor, Marketing Coordinator, Board Member, International Asso Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists
2020 - 2025 Creative Consultant, Zamana Art
2018-2019 Executive Director, The Art Loft, non-profit community art center, Rockland,
Maine
2016-2017 Operations Director, The Art Loft, non-profit community art center, Rockland,
Maine
2016-2019 Instructor, The Art Loft, photography, creativity, and technology
2016-2020 Independent Instructor in Wordpress and photography
2019-2026 Graphic Art Designer, Custom Pop Ups Card Company, San Diego, California
RESIDENCIES
2026 Museum of Loss and Renewal, Collemacchia, Italy
2018 The Art Loft, Rockland, Maine August 1-30, 2018, Artist in Residence
EDUCATION
The Handmade Artist Book, Maine Media College, Instructor Susan Kae Grant, Summer 2026
Papermaking and Color, Women’s Studio Workshop, Instructor Hannah O’Hare Bennett, Fall, 2024
Text and Photo, Maine Media College Workshop, Instructor Sal Taylor Kydd, Winter 2023
Art of Seeing, Maine Media College Workshop, Instructor: Elizabeth Opalenik, Summer 2021
Photographic Objects Workshop, Maine Media College, Instructor: Dawn Surratt, Spring 2021
Projects II, Maine Media College, Instructor: Elizabeth Greenberg, Winter 2020
Concept Aware Workshop, Maine Media College, Instructor: Sybylla Smith, Winter 2019
Finding Stillness Photography Workshop, Instructor: Kim Klassen, Fall 2016
Still Life Photography Online Classes, Instructor: Kim Klassen, 2014-2016
