Karen McSwan Silsby

Karen McSwan Silsby’s abstract painting series emerges from a deep impulse to impose structure on a world in flux. Through an intuitive blend of words, imagery, and gestural marks, she confronts the turbulence of personal, political, and environmental crises—from natural disasters to war and human-made upheaval. These raw expressions are then tempered by superimposing layered grids that offer a sense of stability, grounding and logic. The gridlines extend beyond the canvas, reaching outward to symbolically embrace the wider world, while also forming windows—portals through which viewers can safely contemplate the chaos beyond. 

Silsby’s work also incorporates scaled-up blackwork embroidery, stitched directly through paint, canvas, and mixed materials. This traditional, grid-based technique adds a tactile dimension and invites slow, meditative engagement, encouraging viewers to reflect on the patterns, their meaning, and the meditative labour behind them. Every stitch speaks to the discipline, focus, and quiet resilience embedded in the act of making.