CURRICULUM VITAE
KAREN (Kara) LYONS BA MFA RSS
Mobile: 07971 482173
Email: karen@karenlyons.co.uk
Instagram: @karenlyonsartist
Contact Me
EDUCATION
- MFA (with distinction) Reading University.
- BA (Hons) Fine Art (1st class. University of Newcastle upon Tyne) Art Foundation Diploma, Kingston Polytechnic.
EMPLOYMENT/ROLES
| Current | Freelance Sculptor. Founder and Proprietor of Ebor Studio, Littleborough, Lancs. UK Founder and Director of Gallery FRANK Director of Ebor Studio Group. Joint Partner and founder of Guns to Goods Project |
| 2018-19 | Chair of Littleborough Arts Festival. |
| 2013 | Elected Member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. Board of Directors, Hive Projects, Rochdale. |
| 2004 -08 | Programme Leader MA Contemporary Fine Art, University of Salford. External Examiner for Fine Art BA. York St John University. |
| 2003 -08 | Programme Leader MA Contemporary Fine Art, University of Salford |
| 2003 – 07 | External Examiner for Fine Art BA, MA. Cumbria Institute of the Arts |
| 1998 – 03 | Course Leader, BA Visual Arts, University of Salford. |
| 1998 – 00 | Subject Leader, Visual Culture, University of Salford Lecturer in Visual Arts and Culture, University of Salford Associate lecturer in Painting, Sheffield Hallam University |
| 1987 – 90 | Lecturer in Painting and Drawing, Lancaster University. |
| 1986 | Visual Arts Co-ordinator, Bradford University. |
EXHIBITIONS/ COMMISSIONS
| 2025 | Mormorio Installation, Ebor Studio with Paul Haywood and Chris Leach. |
| 2023 | ‘Ginnel’ Installation at ECC Venice Architectural Biennale. |
| 2023 | ‘If Not Now When? Generations of Women and Sculpture 1960 – 2022’ Saatchi Gallery, London and Hepworth Museum, Wakefield. |
| 2022 | ‘Gigant’ Large-scale prints, Gallery FRANK, Littleborough, Lancs. |
| 2022 | ‘Prima Materia’ Installation with photographs by Martha Lyons Haywood |
| 2021 | ‘Marginalia’ Solo show. Sculptures and drawings. Whitaker Museum and Gallery, Rossendale, Lancs. |
| 2020 | ‘Albert’s Hand’ Solo performance/installation in Collaboration with Martha Haywood ‘Drollerie’ solo show, Drawings, Gallery FRANK |
| 2019 | ‘Enantios’ Solo exhibition, drawings and sculpture, Gallery FRANK, Littleborough, Lancs. |
| 2018 | ‘Voices 100 Years’ People’s History Museum exhibition. |
| 2017 | ‘Portrait of Erinma Bell’ Permanently sited in Manchester Town Hall |
| 2016 | Portrait Sculpture of Erinma Bell MBE DL peace campaigner. Manchester Cathedral. Guns to Goods project. Arts Council funded |
| 2016 | Pavement Project In association with Mothers Against Violence (MAV). A Guns to Goods project. Various sites around Manchester. Arts Council funded. |
| 2016 | ‘Edinburgh Dialogues’ Patriot Hall, joint show with Rachel Maclean |
| 2014 | ‘Representing Abstraction’ Joint exhibition of drawings with Tim Dunbar, Parfitt Gallery Croydon |
| 2014 | Surface design for Violet Flamingo dress designer label. |
| 2013 | ‘Dark and Dangerous’ Solo exhibition and storytelling event, Rochdale Festival of Literature and Ideas, Ebor Studio. |
| 2013 | ‘Bluebeard’ Solo show of drawings, Galleria Mirionima, Macerata, Italy |
| 2012 | ‘Grim Tales’ Solo show of drawings, Greg Couzens Hair Salon, Rochdale |
| 2011-25 | Ebor Studio annual Open Studios Exhibitions Littleborough Arts Festival |
| 2011 | ‘Furies’ Drawings, Hive Gallery, Rochdale Festival |
| 2010 | ‘Hatchings’ Exhibition, Patriot Hall. Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop Dialogue artist 2010. |
| 2009 | Membership of the Mayo County Public Arts Panel. |
| 2009 | Burnley Hiddenplace project. Sculpture commission (5K) funded by Northwest Development Agency, Tesco and Burnley. |
| 2009 | ‘Walkway’ Sculpture commission Cluj Napoca. Romania |
| 2007 | ‘Mis-shapes’ Gallerie 13 bis, Clermont Ferrand, France. With international artists’ exchange project ‘Ping Pong’ |
| 2007 | ‘Ingresso’ Academia Bella Arti, Macerata, Italy. Sculpture/performance |
| 2007 | ‘Clasp’ External Sculpture commission, (30K) Mary Seacole Building, Salford. In assoc. with AFL Architects. |
| 2004 | ‘Crabwalk’. Installation/performance, Chapman Gallery, Salford |
| 2003 | ‘twoeightone’. Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester. Installation/performance |
| 2002 | ‘Piano for A Blind Rat’ Irwell Valley Campus Exhibition Space. Solo show. |
| 2002 | ‘Piano for a Blind Rat’ Artists Unlimited Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany. Installations/drawings. Solo Show. |
| 2002 | ‘Shh’ Exhibition of sited works, Islington Mill. Salford. Drawing/mixed media installation. |
| 1999 | Visual Arts Staff Exhibition, Irwell Valley Campus Exhibition Space, University of Salford. Drawings. |
| 1999 | ‘Proscenium’ Rochdale Art Gallery. Installations/drawings. Solo show. |
| 1999 | ‘Hannah’s Greenhouse’ L’Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Regional Arts Festival, Clermont Ferrand, France. Drawings/sound installation. |
| 1999 | ‘Rhinoceros’ Berlin Zoo. Drawings. |
RESIDENCIES/FESTIVALS/SYMPOSIA
| 2025 | Mormorio Installation, Ebor Studio with Paul Haywood and Chris Leach. |
| 2025 | Artist in Residence at Ningbo Museum of Art, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China |
| 2023 | ‘Ginnel’ Installation at ECC Venice Architectural Biennale. |
| 2023 | ‘If Not Now When? Generations of Women and Sculpture 1960 – 2022’ Saatchi Gallery, London and Hepworth Museum, Wakefield. |
| 2022 | ‘Gigant’ Large-scale prints, Gallery FRANK, Littleborough, Lancs. |
| 2022 | ‘Prima Materia’ Installation with photographs by Martha Lyons Haywood |
| 2021 | ‘Marginalia’ Solo show. Sculptures and drawings. Whitaker Museum and Gallery, Rossendale, Lancs. |
| 2020 | ‘Albert’s Hand’ Solo performance/installation in Collaboration with Martha Haywood ‘Drollerie’ solo show, Drawings, Gallery FRANK |
| 2019 | ‘Enantios’ Solo exhibition, drawings and sculpture, Gallery FRANK, Littleborough, Lancs. |
| 2018 | People’s History Museum ‘Voices 100 Years’ exhibition. |
| 2017 | ‘Portrait of Erinma Bell’ Permanently sited in Manchester Town Hall |
| 2016 | Portrait Sculpture of Erinma Bell MBE DL peace campaigner. Manchester Cathedral. Guns to Goods project. Arts Council funded |
| 2016 | Pavement Project In association with Mothers Against Violence (MAV). A Guns to Goods project. Various sites around Manchester. Arts Council funded. |
| 2016 | ‘Edinburgh Dialogues’ Patriot Hall, joint show with Rachel Maclean |
| 2016 | Guns to Goods hosted: ART – CULTURE – ACTIVISM – PEACE symposia at The Peoples’ History Museum Manchester. |
| 2014 | ‘Representing Abstraction’ joint exhibition of drawings with Tim Dunbar, Parfitt Gallery Croydon |
| 2014 | Surface design for Violet Flamingo dress designer label. |
| 2013 | ‘Dark and Dangerous’ solo exhibition and storytelling event, Rochdale Festival of Literature and Ideas, Ebor Studio. |
| 2013 | ‘Bluebeard’, solo show of drawings, Galleria Mirionima, Macerata, Italy |
| 2013 | Co-ordination and workshops, ‘Green and Brown’ Erasmus IP Project, Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata, Italy. |
| 2012 | ‘Grim Tales’, solo show of drawings, Greg Couzens Hair Salon, Rochdale |
| 2011-25 | Ebor Studio annual Open Studios Exhibitions Littleborough Arts Festival Open |
| 2011 | ‘Furies’, drawings, Hive Gallery, Rochdale Festival |
| 2010 | ‘Hatchings’ Exhibition, Patriot Hall. Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop Dialogue artist 2010. |
| 2009 | Membership of the Mayo County Public Arts Panel. |
| 2009 | Burnley Hiddenplace project. Sculpture commission (5K) funded by Northwest Development Agency, Tesco and Burnley. |
| 2009 | ‘Walkway’ Sculpture commission Cluj Napoca. Romania |
| 2009 | Co-ordination and workshops, ‘Terra Cotta Terra Firma’, Erasmus IP project, Accademia di Belle Arti di Macerata, Italy. |
| 2008 | Blackpool Vistas. Publication and Conference Gastkunstler, Artists Unlimited, Bielefeld, Germany. June to August inclusive. |
| 2007 | ‘Mis-shapes’ Gallerie 13 bis, Clermont Ferrand, France. With international artists’ exchange project ‘Ping Pong’ |
| 2007 | ‘Ingresso’. Academia Bella Arti, Macerata, Italy. Sculpture/performance |
| 2007 | ‘Clasp’. External Sculpture commission, (30K) Mary Seacole Building, Salford. In assoc. with AFL Architects. |
| 2004 | ‘Crabwalk’. Installation/performance, Chapman Gallery, Salford |
| 2003 | ‘twoeightone’. Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester. Installation/performance |
| 2002 | ‘Piano for A Blind Rat’, Irwell Valley Campus Exhibition Space. Solo show. |
| 2002 | ‘Piano for a Blind Rat’, Artists Unlimited Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany. Installations/drawings. Solo Show. |
| 2002 | ‘Shh’, Exhibition of sited works, Islington Mill. Salford. Drawing/mixed media installation. |
| 2001 | Co-ordination of and participation in International Sculpture symposium hosted by University College Salford |
| 2001 | ‘Boundaries’, Gallery ‘H’, Kostelec, Prague. International Art Symposium. 12 Drawings. |
| 2001 | Manchester year of Drama. Collaborative Performance. Rochdale Town Centre. |
| 2001 | ‘Bridge 1&2’, Anglo-German Collaborative Multimedia Event, Musicfest, Bielefeld, Germany. Collaboration with Paul Haywood & Helmut Lemke. |
| 2001 | Notting Hill Carnival. Costume design and performance. |
| 2001 | ‘Reflections’, Gallery ‘H’, Kostelec, Prague. International Art Symposium. Performances & installation. |
| 2001 | Sheffield Media Show, Sheffield Hallam University. Performance. |
| 2001 | St Petersburg Xmas Carnival, Russia. Seminar Presentation & consultancy. |
| 1999 | Visual Arts Staff Exhibition, Irwell Valley Campus Exhibition Space, University of Salford. Drawings. |
| 1999 | ‘Proscenium’, Rochdale Art Gallery. Installations/drawings. Solo show. |
| 1999 | ‘Hannah’s Greenhouse’, L’Ecole Des Beaux Arts, Regional Arts Festival, Clermont Ferrand, France. Drawings/sound installation. |
| 1999 | ‘Rhinoceros’, Berlin Zoo. Drawings. |
| 1999 | ‘Weaver’s Song’, Gracie Fields Live Art Commission, Rochdale Art Gallery. Installations/performance. |
| 1992 | Arts Festival, Einoven, Holland. 2 Performances at De Fabric Gallery. |
| 1991 | ‘Earthscapes’, Environmental Arts Festival, Hastings, Sussex. Collaborative public artworks. |
| 1991 | Notting Hill Carnival. Costume design and performance. |
| 1991 | ‘Miljo Kunst’. Environmental Art Symposium, Foerde, Norway. Public Artworks & children’s workshops. |
| 1991 | Orchard Gallery, Derry, N Ireland. Artists’ Exchange Project. |
| 1989 | ‘Present Histories’, Transmissions Gallery, Glasgow. Mixed media installation. |
| 1989 | ‘Heritage 2’, Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University. Mixed media installation. Joint show. |
| 1989 | Intercom Fest, Bielefeld, Germany. Fax works. Group Installation/performance. |
| 1989 | ‘Co-operation’, Rochdale touring show |
| 1988-89 | Artist in Residence, Rochdale primary schools. |
| 1988 | ‘Heritage’, Franklin Furnace Gallery, New York. Mixed media installation. |
| 1988 | ‘Working Leisure’, Performance with Paul Haywood, BBK Gallery, Bielefeld, Germany. |
| 1988 | ‘Monuments’, Crypt Gallery, High Holborn, London. |
| 1988 | ‘Discarded Sculptures’, International Outdoor Art Event. Mixed Media sited work. |
| 1988 | ‘Portraits’, Repin Academy of Fine Art, Leningrad. |
| 1988 | ‘Fragments of Identity’, Nada Gallery, New York. Mixed media Installation. |
| 1987 | ‘On the Eve’, Bradford University. Sculpture. |
| 1987 | Untitled Solo show, Bradford University Gallery. |
| 1987 | ‘People’s Art Show’, Rochdale Art Gallery. Drawings. |
| 1986 | ‘Take Six’, Chisenhale Art Gallery. Installation/drawings. |
| 1986 | MFA Degree Show, Reading University |
| 1986 | Solo Show, Polytechnic of the South Bank, London. Drawings/reliefs. |
| 1986 | Battersea Arts Centre, London. Drawings. |
| 1982 | Degree Show, University of Newcastle upon Tyne |
| 1982 | Laing Gallery, Tyne and Wear. Drawings. |
PUBLICATIONS
| 2025 | Mormorio Installation, Ebor Studio with Paul Haywood and Chris Leach. |
| 2020 | Morning Star, June 11 ‘A Monumental Task has to be achieved’ |
| 2020 | The Focus, ‘How to Replace Statues to Change the Visual Language’, June 27 |
| 2016 | Guardian, The Voice, Blacknet, Manchester Evening News, Nubian Times (March) |
| 2015 | Rostvik C. M. and Sutherland E. L., Suffragette Legacy pp 139 (Cambridge) |
| 2008 | Blackpool Vistas ‘Art with People’, AN Publications. Co-authored section on Artists for the Environment in Rochdale. |
| 1991 | Review of performance work in Live Art, AN Publications by David Butler |
BROADCASTS
| 2018 | Interviewed for final episode of the BBC Civilisations series. |
| 2017 | BBC TV News Interview re: Erinma Bell Sculpture in Manchester Town Hall. |
| 2016 | ITV Granada News, Key 103, BBC News (March) |
| 2016 | Granada Northwest Tonight re: Erinma Bell portrait sculpture. |
| 2016 | BBC NW, Russia Today. Carnival costume featured on Sky TV News. Interview re: ‘Reflections’ Performance in Prague on GM Arts for GM Radio |
| 1993 | Contribution to St Petersburg Xmas Carnival documented on Russian National TV. |
| 1993 | Work featured on TV programme ‘Great Expectations’, BBC1; part of a series of documentary programmes about women’s contribution in the professions |
AWARDS
| 2023 | Nominated for the Fine Art prize at the ECC Venice Architectural Biennale |
| 2016 | Best Performer/artist Award, Rochdale Borough Council Link 4 Life. |
| 2009 | Hiddenplace Project: the 5th Lancashire Creativity Works Award for Best use of Public Space |
| 1986 | Boise Travel Scholarship (China) Carter Memorial Prize (Reading University Postgraduate award) |
| 1982 | WH Knowles Prize John Christie Scholarship Hatton Prize |