About the Artist

Karen Hackenberg (Port Townsend) paints arresting images of local beach-found flotsam, PETE water bottles, plastic toy animals and product packages on otherwise pristine beach landscapes. Painting traditionally with oil and gouache, she lovingly and meticulously crafts repeated images of conventionally “ugly” beach cast-offs. Exhibiting extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest at venues such as Vermillion Art Gallery, Whatcom Art Museum, Artisans on Taylor and Northwind Arts Gallery, Hackenberg has received many awards for her work. Studio Visit magazine recently featured Hackenbergs’s work in their 10th issue. She received her BFA degree in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and settled in the Pacific Northwest in 1992.

Karen received a 2011 GAP to turn her series Watershed into a bound book, providing the additional production funds needed to complete the project.