Karen Navarro, currently based in Houston, is an Argentine artist of Mapuche, Guaraní, and European descent whose practice includes photography, collage, the use of text and sculpture. Her image-based work and multimedia practice investigates the intersections of identity, representation, race, and belonging in reference to her migrant experience, her Indigenous identity, and the history of colonization and its influence. Navarro is interested in the nuances of identity, the constant hybridization of cultures, communication technologies and the concept of beauty—aiming to create, through her work, space for acceptance and existence.
Navarro has won numerous awards and grants, among them the Artadia Fellowship, the Top Ten Lensculture Critics' Choice Award, and the Houston Center for Photography Beth Block Honoraria. She has been shortlisted for the Photo London Emerging Photographer of the Year Award and The Royal Photographic Society, IPE 163. Her work has been exhibited in the US and abroad. Selected shows include Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH); Artpace, San Antonio; Galerija Upuluh, Zagreb, Croatia; George Washington Carver Museum, Austin, TX; FAR Center for Contemporary Arts, Bloomington, IN; Holocaust Museum Houston; and Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Navarro’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including ARTnews, The Guardian, Observer, and Rolling Stone Italia.