Karen from Finance

Karen From Finance is the premiere 'corporate' queen of Melbourne, Australia. She has performed in award-winning shows across Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. Karen (Richard Chadwick) and I met a few years ago before her performance at Enmore Theatre in Sydney. I expressed interest in painting her awhile back, and we finally had our first sitting in Melbourne just days before it was announced that she would be competing on Ru Paul's Drag Race. It was a joy to paint Karen while watching her perform on RPDR, and I was so proud to see her make it to the finale. We collaborated each step of the way on color scheme, outfit and those small details that make the Queen of Corporate so unique. This portrait is a campy celebration of all things Karen.

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Born in America, Sydney-based Kim Leutwyler migrated to Australia in 2012. She works in a variety of media including painting, installation, ceramics, printmedia and drawing. Leutwyler holds concurrent bachelor degrees in Studio and Art History from Arizona State University, and additionally graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Painting and Drawing degree.Leutwyler's current body of work features paintings exploring notions of beauty, gender and queer identity. She has come to focus on painting as a medium because of its primarily masculine history in the western art canon. Her artwork has been exhibited in multiple galleries and museums throughout Australia and the United States.Some of Leutwyler's recent accolades include being selected as a finalist in the Archibald, Sulman and Black Swan Art Prizes, the Churchie national emerging art prize as well as the Portia Geach Memorial Award.