Karina Buckingham Artist

Karina Buckingham’s Evergreen

 

Evergreen is Karina Buckingham’s second solo show at Gallows Gallery, following her 2022 exhibition, Walk of Wonder: Reflections of the Cape to Cape Track. Since 2018, Karina has worked full-time as an artist in Western Australia, after earning her Fine Arts degree from Curtin University. Her work has gained recognition locally and internationally — as a finalist in the 2023 International Art2Life Juried Art Exhibition, selected by New York gallerist Anita Rogers, and the 2024 Perth Royal Art Prize, one of WA’s leading art awards. Karina paints from two studios: in Wembley Downs, Perth, and Yallingup Siding, which welcomes many visitors during the Margaret River Region Open Studios.

 

In Evergreen, Karina explores the majesty and diversity of Western Australia’s eucalypt forests. Inspired by walks through parks and state forests, each painting captures not only the beauty of these trees, but also her emotional response — feelings of wonder, gratitude, and calm. Seen together, the works become chapters of a forest journey, highlighting the essential role these trees play in our landscape and lives.

 

Painted over six months, the collection emerged through Karina’s playful and intuitive process. Working from memory and imagination, she begins with vibrant reds, pinks and oranges, layering greens applied with brushes, spatulas, rags, and greaseproof paper. The surface is then scraped, sanded, dripped and pooled, revealing organic textures and subtle colour shifts. Dynamic marks balance with calmer shapes of sky or forest floor, creating works that feel soothing from afar yet reveal surprising details up close.

 

Evergreen celebrates WA’s iconic eucalypts — not just their beauty, but as reminders of their emotional and ecological importance - and the need to protect them whilst we still can.

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