BIO
Annika Karskens is an emerging artist living and working in Sydney, Australia. In 2022 she graduated from her Bachelor of Design Degree at UNSW Art & Design. She has been working across a range of mediums and exhibiting her work in Australia since 2017.
All of Annika’s work takes influence from the natural environment. With her education in object design, Annika enjoys the challenge of making by hand, and believes in bringing value to ordinary materials through craftsmanship. Having focused her practice around discarded aluminium coffee capsules, she has recently begun developing her sculptural art into wearables.
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS
2022: Winner of the Glebe Art Show People’s Choice Award
2021: Exhibited in NOX Night Sculpture Walk
2021: Exhibited in Transformation Exhibition at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens
2019: Featured in Australian Design Centre’s Bright Start
2019: Exhibited in Wild Thing at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens
2018: Finalist in Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, and awarded Highly
Commended
2017: Winner of Harbour Sculpture Hunter Holden High School Prize
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have always been fascinated with the natural world. As an object designer, I believe that nature offers a bounty of inspiration which can enrich our everyday. Themes of biophilia arise intuitively in all of my designs. This notion appears in the form, function, concept and making processes of these design objects.
I enjoy the challenge of handmaking. I strive to achieve a harmony of materiality and craft skill in all of my designs. I believe in bringing value to “ordinary” materials through handmaking.
I position my practice at the intersection of art and design. These two fields allow me to balance conceptuality and function and create designs which facilitate conversations. I am constantly searching for new ways to innovate with materials and making processes. I have ambitions to develop a holistic practice in order to create designs which are environmentally sustainable and sympathetic to their contexts.