Karen Heald

Since 2004 I have been practising as a visual artist, filmmaker and academic researcher whose artwork has evolved out of working site-specifically and on international residencies. I engage in a variety of collaborations with diverse practitioners such as artists, scientists, medical doctors and numerous other academics. In August 2019 I became Programme Leader for the MA in Art and Design Practice at Wrexham Glyndwr University. I am a PhD Director of Studies in the Faculty of Art, Science and Technology (FAST), WGU and a mentor for artists creating work for Arts and Science exhibitions supported by Arts Council Wales (2018 – ).

Previous held posts include being an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences (2012 – 2018) and a Lecturer on the MA Fine Art programme, School of Creative Studies and Media (2014 – 2018) at Bangor University. From 2011 – 2014 I was Honorary Researcher/Artist in Residence in the Psychiatric department at Betsi Cadwaladwr University Health Board. In 2012 I became a board member of the Northern Arts and Science Network. My research within the University of Salford’s, Contemporary Fine Art Practice Group (2009-2012), focused on narrative, sensory intelligences and kinaesthetic learning through creative frameworks. The concept of In-between-ness in my PhD (2014) titled ‘ ‘Dream Films’ and Research as Collaborative Practice through Contemporary Art and Science Methodologies’ explored time, creativity and its relationship to video, site-specificity, and the philosophical complexities of arts and science collaborations. Through a variety of media, primarily video, installation and photography, I have evolved my own poetic visual language that engages with the differences and similarities between painting and film, creating a language of “painterly reverie” that communicates difficult social issues with subtle, oblique visual stanzas.

I have a practice-based PhD and a MA in Contemporary Fine Art from Leeds Beckett University, BA (Hons) in Visual Arts from the University of Salford and a Senior Fellowship of the Advanced Higher Education from Bangor University.