About
My name is Karen Van Holm, and I am a visual artist based in Ghent, Belgium. A geographer and environmental scientist by training, I pursued a professional career in IT as a civil servant working for a Flemish government agency, while keeping my art practice private.
Having taken fine art classes in New York, Antwerp, London, and Los Angeles, I continue to be inspired by my hometown, where I have been honing my skills at St Lucas Academy for many years. My love for Ghent is such that I created a portrait of the city, Gent Getekend, a hand-drawn map assembled from more than 150 drawings of distinctive buildings that, to my mind, define the urban landscape. This multi-year project, in which my geography background, IT savviness, and creative side came together, culminated in a successful crowdfunding campaign that attracted considerable media attention and allowed me to share my work with a wide audience. Though this campaign is now over, prints of the complete map and sets of postcards featuring iconic buildings can still be ordered via karen@karenvanholm.com or purchased in the museum shop of STAM, the Ghent City Museum.
My latest artistic project, the Natura series, builds on my environmental interests. Consisting of collages, drawings, paintings, and combinations thereof, it shifts the focus from man-made to organic forms, ranging from natural land- and seascapes to plants and animals, the classical elements, and internal body organs.
On this website you will find a selection of my artistic work, along with some graphic design projects. Please check out my portfolio, and don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested in my work: I would love to hear from you.
+32 (0)497 47 76 98
