Bio
KAREN DRYSDALE HARRIS is a Jamaican-born watercolorist and oil painter based in Rhode Island. She attended Rhode Island School of Design where she earned her BFA. Her primary sources of inspiration are nature and the memory of her Jamaican roots. Her work strives to express both the colors and the gentle quiet of the Caribbean. She is especially interested in how her lost memories can be triggered by nature.
Karen was recently in So,So Rhode Island and the Providence Monthly Magazine. She was awarded first place at the 34th Annual Rhode Island Open at the Warwick Center for Arts. She attended I-Park Foundation's artist residency. Was featured in GoLocalProv.com Lifestyle section artist-to-know - Inside Art with Michael Rose. She was recently awarded the RISCA - Make Art Grant and will attend The Mauser Foundation Residency in Costa Rica in 2025 because of the grant.
Harris was one of the artists featured in The Black Biennial, at RISD Museum. Harris has had solo and group exhibitions at the GREEN SPACE Gallery at TF Green Airport, Sutton Gallery, Cheshire Academy, Imago Foundation for the Arts, AS220, BankRI Turks Head Gallery, and Johnson Wales University Bridge Center Gallery along with multiple group shows throughout Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut.
Artist Statement
Karen has combined an interest in the sublime aspects of nature and memory to create unmistakable artworks. Karen has always had a strong connection to nature, color, and light.
Harris's recent works tap into memories of Caribbean plants, specifically the banana tree, and explore techniques that bring their intricate textures, patterns, and colors to life. After growing her own banana plant, she decided to create and explore a body of work centered on the use of banana leaves. Karen uses the banana leaves that she has grown to engage the viewer in experiencing the memories they evoke of her Jamaican childhood on her grandparent’s banana farm. The banana plant symbolizes her memory of her immigrant story of displacement and the comfort she took in the natural world that surrounded her.
When asked about the varied methods she employs in her artmaking, Harris says, “Because so much of my work is driven by my emotions at a given moment. It is good to have multiple ways to express yourself. Dancing and painting my curled banana leaves on my floor; looking at the shadow patterns that are created; sitting tight as I look at the veins in a leaf in my small illustrations; letting myself go as I expressively oil paint my cotton plants; or painting directly on the banana leaves and printmaking with the leaves are all informed by my connection to nature, texture, and color.”
Photo Credit: Robert W. Easton
Solo Exhibitions
Healing Arts Department
RI Hospital and Hasbro Children's Hospital, Providence RI, 2024
Clients Showcase
Edward Jones, Cranston RI, 2024
Telling Stories Artist Talk
Cheshire Academy, Cheshire CT, 2023
BankRI North Kingstown Gallery
North Kingstown, Providence RI, 2023
Sense of Place
Sutton Gallery, Providence RI, 2019
Bank RI
Turks Head Gallery, Providence RI, 2016, 2019
I-Park Foundation Open Studios
I-Park, East Haddem CT, 2015, 2018
AS220
AS220, Providence RI, 2016
Johnson & Wales University
Bridge Center Gallery, Providence RI, 2016
Group Exhibitions
Rhode Island Community Invitational Exhibition
The Providence Art Club, Providence RI, 2024
The Memories That We Carry
With Jacques Bidon and Lois Harada
Barrington Library Gallery, Barrington RI, 2024
(RISCA’s Make Art Grant)
Featured Artist
With Paula Martiesian and Eileen Siobhan
Imago Foundation for The Arts Gallery, Warren RI, 2023
Expressions in Black
3rd Place - Fish & Banana
Warwick Center for the Arts, Warwick RI, 2022
Black Biennial
RISD Museum Gelman Gallery, Providence RI, 2022
Rhode Island Community Invitational Exhibition
The Providence Art Club, Providence RI, 2021
GREEN SPACE
RISCA Juried Exhibition
Gallery at TF Green Airport, Warwick RI, 2021
34th Annual RI Open
1st Place - Dancing with Banana Leaves, Juried Exhibition
Warwick Center for the Arts, Warwick RI, 2022
One Planet Irreplaceable
Haley Gallery, Kittery ME • 2020
Up Close
RISD Memorial Hall Gallery, Providence RI, 2019
RISD Holiday Staff Show
Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence RI, 2005 - 2018
RISCA Annual State Black Artist Exhibition
RISCA Atrium Gallery, Providence RI, 2015 - 2019
Art Exhibit & Memory Quilt-Collage Project
RISCA Atrium Gallery, Providence RI, 2017
Gallery Night's 20th Anniversary Celebration
URI Feinstein, Providence RI, 2017
Open Studios Tour
South Coast Studios, Tiverton RI, 2011
Bridgeport University Gallery
The University Gallery, Bridgeport CT, 1998
Decorum/Handle w/Care Gallery
Warwick RI, 1998
Bristol City Museum Education Department
Bristol UK, 1987
RISD, Woods-Gerry Gallery
Providence RI, 1986
Education
Rhode Island School of Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts—Illustration, Providence RI, 1986
Brown University
Liberal Arts Classes, Providence RI, 1986, 2005
Rhode Island College
General Classes, Providence RI, 1980
Grants, Residences & Curation
RISCA - Make Art Grant 2024
Grant Recipient, Providence RI, 2023
The Bristol Art Museum
Juror, Bristol RI, 2023
RI Watercolor Society
Juror, 2023
Warwick Center for the Arts
Co-curator, Warwick RI, 2023
I-Park Foundation Residency
E. Haddam CT, 2015, 2018
RISCA Public Art Projects
Juror, Green Space Gallery, Providence RI, 2015
Artist Talks & Panels
Telling Stories Artist Talk
Cheshire Academy, Cheshire CT, 2023
Virtual Studio Visit
Providence Country Day, East Providence RI, 2020
Creative Work Amid 21st Century Womanhood
Hot House: Good Time, Providence RI, 2019
Exploring Artist Residency
RISD Career Center, Providence RI, 2018
Conversation on the Future of Gallery Space Artist Talk
URI Campus Gallery, Providence RI, 2016