STATEMENT

I am drawn to the delicate tension between strength and fragility, instinct and intention, the body and the space it inhabits. My work emerges from a deep fascination with nature, nurture, desire, and compassion.

Using  wire, thread, vinyl, sewing, and encaustic, I then weave wire, stitch obsessively, rip, cut, repurpose textiles, and dip and pour wax. Using my entire body, I bend, pull, bind, and mend. I am in a constant state of revising, modifying, and repairing, following each form from the inside out until it begins to reveal itself.

I draw in space in three dimensions. This unusual combination of materials guides my  intuition allowing me to explore the ideas and the emotions of rejection, desire, and repair. Thinking about hope, loss, and exploring the intersection of fragility and resilience, the work encompasses the duality of protection and destruction; holding space for sadness, hope, and renewal. 

BIO

Karin Tuck Petersen is a mixed media artist living and working in Austin, Texas, and New York. She “draws” in space with thread, wire, fabric, color, and encaustic in three dimensions. Her work is in numerous private collections in the United States; and has been shown in recent exhibitions in Brooklyn, NY; New York City, NY; Cross River, NY; Austin, TX; Chautauqua, NY; Bee Cave, TX; Round Rock, TX.

In 2026, she completed an Independent Study Program Residency at Judy Pfaff’s compound in Tivoli, NY. She was chosen for the Willow House Summer Residency in Terlingua, TX, in 2025, as well as the 2024 Chautauqua Institute Visual Arts Residency in Chautauqua, NY. She received a BFA in Fine Art from Otis College of Art and Design, in Los Angeles, CA. She is currently a member of the ISP Yellow Chair Program, lead by Michael David, and recently was a member of the 2025 Canopy Program/NYC Crit Club, lead by Erika Ranee.

She is a Studio Member of Contracommon, an Artist-run nonprofit gallery and studio space in Austin, TX. Most recently, she had her first solo exhibition, Fake Plastic Trees, at Art Cake in New York in 2026, and will be featured in a three person exhibition at 1Gap, in New York in December 2026, followed by an exhibition at Art Cake in 2027. Locally, she has an upcoming solo exhibition this March at Contracommon Gallery, in Austin, TX.