ARTIST
IN RESIDENCE
HOLY TRINITY CATHEDRAL
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
MEET KAREN SEWELL
​
We are delighted to have Karen Sewell (top left image) as our Artist in Residence. Karen creates her artworks in and around the Cathedral and is inspired by her surroundings.
​
The Cathedral has had a long association with the arts historically commissioning artworks as it was built and in recent times establishing the John Wilson Gallery, hosting art installations, and participating in Artweek Auckland. The artist in residence compliments these initiatives, extends our involvement in the arts, and provides benefits for the Cathedral community and the artist.
​
A visual artist graduating with a Master of Fine Arts (with Honours) in 2016 from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Karen is interested in the intersection of art and spiritual experience. She aspires to create artworks that activate spaces for viewer/participants to be able to experience liminal moments of awareness of the unknown, an awakening to wonder, or numinous experiences. Karen works across media including sculpture, installation, painting, drawing and photography, specialising in installation practice.
​
In 2022 Karen exhibited at the Venice Biennale. Luminary | Luminare showed at the Palazzo Bembo on the Grand Canal (bottom image). This was Karen’s first international exhibition and is an incredible achievement.
The Luminary | Luminare installation toured several NZ cathedrals and churches in 2022.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
A CELEBRATION OF NATURE
Karen Sewell - Cathedral Artist in Residence
Gabriela Drees-Holz
THURSDAY 28 MARCH - SUNDAY 7 APRIL
ST MARY'S-IN-HOLY TRINITY
OPENING TIMES:
MON - SAT 10AM - 3PM | SUN 12PM - 3PM
An exhibition of multi-sensory virtual and physical artworks that speak to the wonder of nature and its capacity for transformation and renewal. Object, textile and installation artist, Gabriela Drees-Holz (Germany), brings her installation Golden Rescue Nest to Aotearoa, New Zealand, for a joint exhibition with Karen Sewell´s Luminary XR along with Sewell’s paintings and photography works in St Mary’s-in-Holy Trinity.