Karen Walters holds degrees in education, graphic design and visual arts. After a successful career in Auckland as a secondary school teacher of design and head of department, she became a full time artist in 2006, and ran Kereru Gallery in Nelson region for 10 years before returning home north to Sandspit, north of Auckland where she continues her full time practice as an artist.

Karen often uses reclaimed native timber in her work, carving it into new abstract forms that accentuate the material’s tone and texture. When each piece is selected, it is transformed into art and Karen sees it as breathing life back into what was once part of a building and before that, a forest.

In her Kareao Vessel (2023), she uses supplejack, a native forest vine that clings onto other trees to reach the sunlight. She enhances the forms and lines within the wood grain, creating a new handcrafted homage to the material and nature.

Karen is also skilled in bronze work, often taking inspiration from the smallest native specimen such as a puha (watercress) leaf, and enhancing its natural beauty through casting a large but delicate wall work.

Karen also creates circular wall works such as Sink, Swim, Fly (2023), where perfectly carved creatures circle each other. They could be birds, fish, or both. Karen is also known for her Infinity Series work, refined relief carvings that circle and dance.