With respect, I acknowledge Elders, both past and present:  Darug and Gundungurra (Sydney and Blue Mountains) and Dharawal (Southern Botany Bay & Georges River, west to Camden & south to Nowra).  With love I give thanks to my Ancestral Family for continuing to walk with me each day.

I am proud to identify as an Aboriginal woman belonging to six generations of Aboriginal women who have lived along the waterways of Sans Souci, Kogarah Bay, Georges River, Botany Bay and La Perouse.  I am descended from two Sydney Aboriginal language groups: the Cabrogal people, (Click here to find out more), a Georges River clan of the Darug speaking Nation and the Gweagal people, the Kurnell clan of the Dharawal speaking Nation (Find out more: click here) , from the southern Sydney and South Coast Illawarra region.  My mother taught me to fish from an early age and currently my mother is continuing another family tradition passed down from mother to daughter; she is teaching me the shellwork her mother taught her.  (www.nma.gov.au› Collections)

I am recognized by the La Perouse (Botany Bay) Aboriginal community (where my Mother and her Mother were born) and by my local Blue Mountains community where my twin sons were born.  I currently hold the position of Secretary on the Management Committee of our local Culture centre known as Blue Mountains Aboriginal and Culture Resource Centre in Katoomba.  I am also a founding member of the Blue Mountains local Aboriginal artists group known as the “Marra Mob.” (see Other Artists)

I began painting in 2006 in response to our local Elder, Aunty Carol Cooper, who invited me and my sons to participate in the local Blue Mountains NAIDOC Art Exhibition. Up until then I had never painted.

Karen's work can be viewed in the Gallery/Shop, on the Red Cockatoo website, or in person at Kemp's Kafe, Springwood.