I had the pleasure of sitting down with Karen, who, in this very special feature for Lenscratch, her experiences returning to Argentina during the past elections, her recent work El Lado Oculto de la Luna (The Hidden Side of the Moon), and her recent pregnancy has affected her perception as a woman and artist
Karen Navarro, currently based in Houston, is an Argentinian artist of Mapuche, Guaraní and European descent who works across the mediums of photography, collage, and sculpture. Her work 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 the Artadia Fellowship, the Top Ten Lensculture Critics’ Choice Award, and the Houston Center for Photography Beth Block Honoraria among others. And, in 2024 she was artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL. 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. Additionally, Navarro’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including ARTnews, The Guardian, Observer, and Rolling Stone Italia.
