Karen Firmin

My inspiration is rooted in the natural world—its shifting forms, evolving colours, and continual rhythms of growth. I travel often, absorbing new environments through watercolour, sketching, and photography, gathering visual impressions to carry back to my overcrowded corner just outside London.

Cyanotype printing has become one of my most addictive processes. I’m drawn to the simplicity of photogram-style compositions, often echoing the botanical silhouettes embraced by Anna Atkins (British Botanist, 1799–1871). Yet my deepest engagement lies in crafting hand-drawn negatives and layering exposures, experimenting with bleaching and colour to push the medium’s boundaries. I often incorporate pigments gathered and mixed onsite, bridging a tangible connection between land and human, destination and home.

B.A Hons Fine Art contemporary, University of East London.
London School of picture and frame conservation.

Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield, 2023.