Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir b. 1992
"Faces are mirrored in water drops, distorted through glass, or hidden behind delicate patterns, imbuing her portraits with a sense of mystery, melancholy, and transformation."
Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir (b. 1992, Reykjavík) is an Icelandic painter working primarily in oil on canvas. Her practice is grounded in realism, yet often veers into surreal, dreamlike territories. Blue dominates her palette - used not only as a colour, but as an atmosphere through which her subjects emerge, dissolve, or fragment. Faces are mirrored in water drops, distorted through glass, or hidden behind delicate patterns, imbuing her portraits with a sense of mystery, melancholy, and transformation.
She holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore (2013) with a minor in art history, and has lived and worked between New York City and Reykjavík in recent years. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo and duo exhibitions in Reykjavík, and numerous group exhibitions across cities including New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Barcelona, and Annecy.
Karen’s paintings have also appeared in prominent publications such as New American Paintings, Create! Magazine, SFMOMA, Hyperallergic, Tibia Magazine, and El País. She is currently preparing for a solo show at Þula in Reykjavík, opening June 2025.
