Karen Mead is a multi-disciplinary print maker working with relief printing, etching and monotype.

As a figurative artist and a keen people-watcher her work frequently employs humour and narrative. She takes inspiration from her daily life and her current work explores her year-round swims on the Isle of Wight. She is particularly interested in depicting the dynamics of female friendships. She strives to capture the joyous interactions of a community formed during cold water swimming.

Karen has a degree in Fine Art and a Masters in multi-disciplinary print making She currently lives on the Isle of Wight where she teaches print course at Quay Arts and privately. She is the Founder of Press Gang, a forum for island print makers.

She is originally from Hong Kong  where she taught at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre and worked as a professional mural painter.