CONTEMPORARY ART STOCKROOM Karlee Rawkins

ARTIST COMMISSION ENQUIRY

JOIN THE PREVIEW LIST

Based on the north coast of New South Wales, award winning painter Karlee Rawkins’ vibrant images of flora and fauna reflect the artist’s deep fascination with the natural world and highlight the role creatures play within our imagination. Informed in part by the lush diversity of her local ecosystem, Rawkins’ works depict a ceaselessly verdant world full of growth and possibility.

Taking inspiration from the myriad global narratives that feature creatures from the plant and animal kingdoms, her dynamic acrylics on canvas bring to the fore the enduring importance of cultural storytelling as a means of processing humanities relationship to nature. Echoing the designs and motifs of ancient Indian fabrics, medieval tapestries, folk art imagery or even the pages of a well loved picture book, the totemic characters Rawkins’ conjures are full of powerful meanings and symbolic potential.

Attracted to the ways in which pattern and line intersect with form and colour, Rawkins’ skilfully integrates discernible representation with subtle, intuitive abstraction. There is a wildness to her mark-making and a bold, celebratory use of colour resulting in portraits that are transformative, other worldly and profoundly ritualistic. This dexterous sense of composition and lively mark making is captivating, revealing both child-like veneration and sophisticated appreciation for the form and character of her subjects.

'I use animal imagery in my work as a metaphor for human emotions and experiences. The animals are distorted and flattened, often combining with pattern to create intentionally ambiguous compositions. I aim to emphasize the vulnerability and awkwardness of my subject and challenge a viewers recognition and sense of association.'
Karlee Rawkins, Artist Statement

'Conjuring up a menagerie of curious creatures, exquisite foliage and sensual forms, Karlee Rawkins’ paintings are at once alluring and quizzical. Depicting a realm neither real nor fully imagined, her images invite us to glimpse an alternate reality in which myth, museology and childhood storytelling coalesce. Housed within the loose layers of her intentionally transparent brush-marks are deliberate suggestions of hope and possibility.'
Excerpt of catalogue essay by Phe Luxford, 2022

Karlee Rawkins 'Never Never River' Artist Talk February 2015 from Flinders Lane Gallery on Vimeo.

ARTIST PROFILE:
Rawkins trained at Southern Cross University and has exhibited extensively since 1994. In 2003 she was the recipient of The Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship and in 2004 she held a five month residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France. She has been a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize (2020) and won the Margaret Olley Commendation Award in 2019. She has also been a finalist in the Clayton Utz Award (2019, 2018), the Korea-Australia Arts Foundation (2016) and the Prometheus Art Award (2007, 2005). Her work is held in collections including that of Maitland Regional Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of NSW.

VIEW LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

DOWNLOAD BIO / CV (PDF)

JOIN PREVIEW LIST

Quoll 2025
acrylic on canvas
121cm x 137cm
$6,400 AUD

Creek Crossing 2024
acrylic on canvas
121cm x 137cm
$6,400 AUD

Flying Sea Eagle 2024
acrylic on canvas
121cm x 137cm
$6,400 AUD

Scarlet-tailed Macaw 2023
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 121cm
$6,400 AUD

Tiger Lily 2023
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 121cm
$6,400 AUD

Great Big Little Panther 2023
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 121cm
$6,400 AUD

Major Mitchell 2025
acrylic on canvas
71cm x 61cm
$2,900 AUD

Dingo Tracks 2024
acrylic on polyester
61cm x 71cm
$2,900 AUD

Australian Boobook 2024
Gouache Monotype on Arches rag paper
37cm x 28cm unframed
$800 AUD

Australian Masked Owl I 2024
Gouache Monotype on Arches rag paper
37cm x 28cm unframed
$800 AUD

Australian Masked Owl II 2024
Gouache Monotype on Arches rag paper
37cm x 28cm unframed
$800 AUD

Barking Owl 2024
Gouache Monotype on Arches rag paper
37cm x 28cm unframed
$800 AUD

Pixie Dust 2023
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 210cm
$9,000 AUD

Weeping Pirates 2023
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 210cm In Artist's studio
$9,000 AUD

Mermaid Lagoon 2023
acrylic and charcoal on canvas
137cm x 210cm
In Artist's Studio
$9,000 AUD

Little Letter Wing 2024
graphite, charcoal & cold wax on Khadi cotton rag paper, mounted on board
20cm x 20cm
$600 AUD