Karen Roarke: 10 Who Made a Difference in RI in 2024

Karen Roarke: 10 Who Made a Difference in RI in 2024

Karen Roarke is a mega-talent. The Rhode Island artist was featured by GoLocal’s Michael Rose.

In his feature, he wrote:

A born Rhode Islander, Roarke was raised in Cranston but spent a great deal of time away from her home state. She completed her BA in Studio Art from Boston College and then relocated to California, where she earned an MA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Fullerton and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. After being out west she spent several years living in a loft in New York City before she and her young family moved back to the Ocean State in the late 90’s. In her time living in Middletown, she and her husband have transformed a modest ranch house into a stunning art-focused home.

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Roarke’s paintings blend abstraction with natural inspiration. They have a hypnotic quality and draw in the eye with repeating patterns and shapes. Something meditative is at play. In some of her artworks, there is evidence of the scattered light that comes when bright sunlight flashes through leafy trees. In others, the suggestions of space and texture are more subtle but no less appealing. Roarke also actively explores scale. Some of her paintings are nearly floor-to-ceiling, while others are intimate.

An experienced exhibitor, Roarke has been sharing her work in galleries for nearly four decades. Her first solo show was in 1987. She has participated in group exhibitions in galleries located everywhere from Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea. Her work has also entered important corporate collections, including those of Fidelity Investments and Nestlé. In addition to her accomplishments as a fine art painter, Roarke enjoys a career as a professional scenic artist who has worked on some of the film and television productions that have come to the region in recent years.