Karen Disen

Karen Disen is a Lecturer at Oslo National Academy of the Arts in the Department of Design, Art and Craft. Her artistic practice explores gravity, anatomy, movement, graphics, and drawing, with a specialized focus on rhythmic compositional formations and ornament development.

Disen holds a Diploma (1985) from the Norwegian School of Arts and Crafts (metal department), supplemented by training in goldsmithing at Elvebakken Upper Secondary School (1981-82) and pedagogy studies at HIOA. She established her independent metal/jewelry workshop in 1987 and has executed commissioned works exhibited internationally, with pieces held in major Norwegian decorative arts museums.

Her research examines compositional improvisation, material language interpretation, and visual abstraction processes. Recent collaborative projects investigate interdisciplinary printmaking methodologies and material experimentation through exhibitions like the Print Matters series. Disen teaches composition, improvisation, and visual language analysis, emphasizing organic form development through iterative processes.