Caren Garfen is an award-winning artist known for her meticulous research, intricate hand stitching, and thought-provoking work. She transforms everyday objects and textiles into powerful symbols, conveying profound messages. Her artistic practice has long focused on gender politics and women’s issues in the 21st century, exploring themes such as work-life balance and body image. Over four years, she conducted extensive research and created artworks highlighting the harrowing reality of eating disorders. More recently, she has been examining the rise in global antisemitism. Internationally recognised for her accessible yet challenging issue-based art, Caren’s work has been widely exhibited across the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan and the USA. It has also been featured in many printed and online publications. She has been invited on numerous occasions to speak about her work.
Since 2019, Caren’s practice has focused on the Holocaust and contemporary antisemitism. To date, she has created over forty artworks in this series, including ‘Blot on the Landscape’, which memorialises Jewish artists murdered in the Holocaust for being deemed "degenerate" by the Nazis and their collaborators. She reflects on these lost talents and the artistic legacies tragically cut short –an ongoing theme in her work. Caren emphasises that understanding the Holocaust and the history of antisemitism requires addressing today’s resurgence in anti-Jewish racism. She advocates for a fresh, relatable approach that resonates with contemporary audiences. Through her in-depth exploration of these themes, she seeks to make sense of an increasingly problematic world - one in which she recognises history’s dark shadows in collective hysteria, aggression, and the erosion of morality and humanity.
Comments