Bio
KAREN DRYSDALE HARRIS is a Jamaican-born watercolorist and oil painter based in Rhode Island. She earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Her work is deeply inspired by her Jamaican roots and the natural world, particularly Caribbean plant life. Through her paintings, she explores themes of memory, texture, color, and the life cycle of plants—especially banana plants—as a way to reconnect with lost memories.
Harris has been an artist-in-residence at the I-Park Foundation and is a recipient of a Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) grant. She was awarded first place at the 34th Annual Rhode Island Open at the Warwick Center for the Arts. Her work has been featured in GoLocalProv.com’s "Inside Art with Michael Rose" and on the nationally syndicated television show America’s Black Forum.
Her exhibitions include The Black Biennial at RISD’s Gelman Gallery, as well as solo and group shows at Green Space Gallery at TF Green Airport, Sutton Gallery, AS220, Cheshire Academy, Imago Foundation for the Arts, BankRI Turks Head Gallery, and Johnson & Wales University Bridge Center Gallery. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions across Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut.
Beyond her artistic practice, Harris is an active member of the arts community. She serves on the board of The Steel Yard and is a commissioner for the Art in City Life Commission. She also works at RISD and is part of RISD’s Center for Community Partnerships Engagement Advisory Group.
Artist Statement
Karen Harris’s work is deeply rooted in memory, nature, and the Caribbean landscape, particularly her connection to banana plants. Through various techniques, she explores their life cycle, intricate textures, patterns, and colors, bringing them to life in ways that evoke personal and cultural narratives.
Growing her own banana plant in the U.S., Harris incorporates its leaves and flowers into her work, using them as a bridge between past and present. The banana plant becomes a powerful symbol of her Jamaican childhood, spent on her grandparents’ banana farm while her parents worked abroad. It represents both displacement and comfort—the loss and longing of emigration, intertwined with the deep solace found in nature.
When reflecting on her artistic process, Harris explains:
"Because so much of my work is driven by my emotions at a given moment, it’s important to have multiple ways to express myself. Dancing and painting my curled banana leaves on the floor, observing the shifting shadow patterns they create, studying the fine veins in a leaf for small illustrations, expressively oil painting my cotton plants, or printmaking with banana leaves—all of these are ways I connect with nature, texture, and color."
Beyond banana plants, Harris’s work also incorporates cotton plants, known as "white gold", which have a significant historical presence in Jamaica. Additionally, the Doctor Bird (Jamaica’s national hummingbird) frequently appears in her paintings as a symbol of her mother, hovering throughout her compositions like a spiritual presence.
Through her work, Harris invites viewers into a world where memory, nature, and history intertwine, offering a deeply personal yet universally resonant exploration of identity, emigration, and the landscapes that shape us.
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