About the Artist

INTRODUCING THE LETHBRIDGE RESIDENCY PROGRAM

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: KAREN BROCK

Karen Brock is a Sydney-based painter working from her Northern Beaches studio. Her practice centres on familiar neighbourhood scenes at transitional times of day — dusk, dawn, and early evening — where subtle shifts of light and atmosphere transform the everyday. In 2025, she was awarded the Residency Award at the Lethbridge Landscape Prize was awarded 2nd Prize in the Waverley Woollahra 9 x 5 Art Prize and received a Highly Commended in the Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award. In 2024, her work was recognised as a Finalist in the National Emerging Art Prize, the Lethbridge Landscape Prize, and the Lethbridge Small Scale Art Award. She has presented her continuing and developing series of Nocturnes at The Other Art Fair for the past two years.

"I'm currently working on a series of Nocturne suburban scapes, the night light encourages a focus on colour value. Viewing the night landscape removes the visual noise of busy details apparent in daylight and takes me back to a nostalgic time in Australia with less dense housing and more trees and open spaces in suburban neighbourhoods.

I love the blue hour, when indoor lights turn on and beckon us home, our place to retreat and recharge.

Using traditional oil painting techniques and regularly painting from direct observation, my subject matter will be familiar; a natural landscape, an Australian suburban street scene as well as interiors compositions, still life and figure paintings."

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2025

Finalist WWAS 9 x 5 Exhibition

Selected Residency Award Lethbridge Gallery

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge Small Scale Art Prize

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize

Selected to Exhibit at The Other Art Fair SYD May 2025

2024

Selected as a finalist in the National Emerging Art Prize

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Prize

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize

Selected to Exhibit at The Other Art Fair SYD May 2024

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2023

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Prize

Selected as a finalist in the Lethbridge Landscape Prize

Where We Live Group Show - Creative Space, Curl Curl March 2023

Selected as a finalist in the Mosman Rowers Art Prize

Mosman Rowers Art Prize Exhibition - The Mosman Rowers Club, March 2023

2022

Selected as a Bluethumb Art Prize Finalist with her Australian Gum treescape 'Breakthrough'

Karen's sensitive depiction of local Swamp Gum trees as they appeared in silhouette, with a stormy sky backdrop in 'Swamp Gums at Noon' was selected by the Michael Reid curator Amber-Creswell Bell for her ACB Selects Online Exhibition.

​These paintings depict the unique tree canopy shapes of the dominant Australian tree species occurring in the Narrabeen Lake area  - the Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus Robusta) and Swamp She-Oak (Casuarina Glauca).  

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5 Year Anniversary Exhibition- Northern Beaches Gallery, Cromer, June 2022

National Emerging Art Prize, ACB Selects Exhibition February 2022 

Land & Sea Exhibition, Northern Beaches Gallery, Cromer, March 2022

2021

A collection of Karen's Floral Still Life oil paintings were exhibited as part of a Still Life Group Show at Northern Beaches Gallery, Cromer. 

From time spent immersed in the natural landscape at Eramboo artist environment, Karen completed a series of plein air oil studies of the bush understory.