Karen Paulina Biswell

b. 1983
Columbia

"In my pictures nature can be like a magic trick coming out of a hat. It appears out of nowhere in the most surprising ways."

– Karen Paulina Biswell

Available Works
Signos en Rotación

Karen Paulina Biswell

Signos en Rotación

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Iguaka

Karen Paulina Biswell

Iguaka, 2022

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Albeiro

Karen Paulina Biswell

Albeiro

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Lindelia

Karen Paulina Biswell

Lindelia

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Sueños #4

Karen Paulina Biswell

Sueños #4, 2025

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Sueños #12

Karen Paulina Biswell

Sueños #12, 2025

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Sueños #14

Karen Paulina Biswell

Sueños #14, 2025

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Sueños #15

Karen Paulina Biswell

Sueños #15, 2025

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Luz Alira

Karen Paulina Biswell

Luz Alira

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Carmelita

Karen Paulina Biswell

Carmelita

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Delfina

Karen Paulina Biswell

Delfina

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Flores del Altar

Karen Paulina Biswell

Flores del Altar, 2021

C-type print
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Mascara #8

Karen Paulina Biswell

Mascara #8, 2022

C-type print, hand painted with ink
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse
Mascara #5

Karen Paulina Biswell

Mascara #5, 2022

C-type print, hand painted with ink
Signed and numbered on label fixed to reverse

Biography

Karen Paulina Biswell’s artistic practice challenges the implicit power hierarchies generated by the act of ‘taking’ a photograph, instead encouraging a more participatory relationship between subject and viewer.

Often depicting indigenous peoples, Biswell consistently returns to themes of morality, vulnerability, and human fate in her work. She emphasises the mystery of her subjects, encapsulating the tension between the real and romanticised narratives of femininity and womanhood. Karen Paulina Biswell was born in 1983, growing up between Colombia and Paris. She studied Art History at the Sorbonne, Paris. She has been nominated for many international awards, including the Prix Pictet in 2019 and 2025, and was the Strike a Pose Festival (Germany) winner in 2021. Biswell has exhibited globally, with solo exhibitions across Europe, China, and South America. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Pérez Art Museum, Miami; the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris; the Collection des Rencontres de la Photographie, Musée Réattu, Arles; and the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia, amongst others. 

Biswell lives and works in Bogotá and Paris. 

Exhibitions

Karen Paulina Biswell & María Amilbia Siagama Siagama: ADUA

March 7 – April 17, 2025

Karen Paulina Biswell & María Amilbia Siagama Siagama: ADUA