I am a mixed media artist based in Wollongong, a place that sits between the mountains and the sea. After many years in academia, I now devote more time to what I've always loved — making art.
Working primarily on paper, I use pencil, ink, watercolour, gouache and crayon to create small to medium-scale works. My compositions usually begin with forms from nature - landscape, trees, plants, rocky seashores - but can also emerge intuitively through spontaneous lines, shapes and colour.
My practice has developed through an ongoing sketchbook process, shared on Instagram at @garretykarin. Viewers have described the work as “mysterious”, “musical” and “organic poetry”. I’m interested in creating images that feature contrast, ambiguity and quiet tension, inviting sustained attention. More recently, I’ve been exploring the interplay between bold forms and space — allowing intensity and stillness to coexist within the same composition.