Karen Zalamea

Karen Zalamea (she/her) is a Filipino-Canadian artist, educator, and cultural worker.

Zalamea’s artistic practice is rooted in photography and critically considers the medium’s methodologies, materials, and modes of presentation. Her research has reflected on the camera-mediated relationship between body and space, and has expanded to use photography as a means to think through and encounter broader issues of identity, culture, and memory.

Zalamea is the recipient of the 2025 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography and the 2023 Prefix Prize, and her projects have received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She has attended artist residencies in the Philippines, Iceland, and Canada. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions and as public art projects across Canada and internationally. Zalamea holds an MFA from Concordia University, Montreal, and a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver.

Zalamea was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and now resides in Burnaby, on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.

Contact: karen.zed[at]gmail.com

Pronunciation: KEH-ruhn za-la-MAY-yah

CV

Education
MFA, Concordia University, Studio Arts, Photography
BFA, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Photography

Solo Exhibitions
The Prefix Prize, Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, Toronto, 2023
Subarctic Phase, Access Gallery, Vancouver, 2019
When the sun rises, we keep the fire aflame, Burrard Arts Foundation, Vancouver, 2018
Spectres of Desire, Franc Gallery, Vancouver, 2016
Form in Matter, Gallery 295, Vancouver, 2013
Ground Truth (duo with Andreas Rutkauskas), TRUCK Contemporary Art, Calgary, 2012
Working Order, Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture, Edmonton, 2011
WORK WORK WORK, Modern Fuel, Kingston, 2010
WORK WORK WORK, Galerie Simon Blais, Montréal, 2009
Lignes imaginaires, Galerie Les Territoires, Montréal, 2009
Exercises in Napery, FOFA Gallery, Montréal, 2008

Public Art
Ensemble, Anvil Centre, New Westminster, 2024-2025
Vitrine, South Granville Business Improvement Association, Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver, 2017

Selected Group Exhibitions
Prevailing Landscapes, Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, North Vancouver, 2024
Surface, Sample, Site, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, 2023
Coursing, Or Gallery, Vancouver, 2023
Here and Now, Pendulum Gallery, Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver, 2023
image/object: new approaches to three-dimensional photography, The Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, 2023
The in-between, Flat File Project, Gallery 881, Vancouver, 2023
Beyond the Horizon, Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, North Vancouver, 2021-22
Tuloy, Tawid, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie, 2021
Eitt andartak, Iceland Film Photography Association, Gallerí Fold, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2018
In Plain Sight, Patron Art House, Vancouver, 2018
You Are New to the Mountain, SÍM House, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2015
Topographie, Galerie Les Territoires, Montréal, 2012
Nuit Blanche, curated by Nicholas Brown, Toronto, 2011
And No One Was Around, Société des arts technologiques, Montréal, 2011
The Art Marathon Festival, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John’s, 2011
Art Souterrain, Nuit Blanche à Montréal, Montréal, 2011
Exposition Portative, Dazibao centre de photographies actuelles, Montréal, 2011
Proof 17, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, 2010
Exposition Portative, Dazibao centre de photographies actuelles, Montréal, 2010
Caustic Assets, Dalhousie Art Gallery, curated by the Centre for Art Tapes, Halifax, 2009
The Office for Archival Review, Centre des arts actuels Skol, Montréal, 2009
Body Break, Khyber Institute of Contemporary Art, Halifax, 2009

Selected Screenings
[RE] EJECT Revisión al Festival Internacional de Videoperformance, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, Mexico, 2021
aluCine Latin Film & Media Arts Festival, Toronto, 2010
Asian Hot Shots Festival for Film & Video Art, Cinema Moviemento, Berlin, Germany, 2010
Eject 3 Festival Internacional de Videoperformance, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, Mexico, 2010
Diagonales 3, Festival International du Film sur l’Art, Montréal, 2009
21 Instants Vidéo, Polygone Étoilé, Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques, Marseille, France, 2008
Eject 2 Festival Internacional de Videoperformance, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, Mexico, 2008
Monobandes, Galerie Les Territoires, Montréal, 2008
Vidéos de Femmes dans le Parc, Paraloeil Cinéma, Rimouski, 2008

Publications by the Artist
They are lost as soon as they are made, artist book, edition of 500, 2020

Residencies
Woodhaven Artist in Residence Program, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada, 2024
Photography Enrichment Mentor and Artist in Residence, Artists for Kids, North Vancouver, Canada, 2022
Griffin Art Projects, North Vancouver, Canada, 2022
Load na Dito Projects, Quezon City, Philippines, 2020
Burrard Arts Foundation, Vancouver, Canada, 2018
The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM), Reykjavík, Iceland, 2015
Residency for Artists on Hiatus, Vancouver, Canada, 2013-2014
Espace Marie Chouinard, Montréal, Canada, 2011
Sagamie Centre for Contemporary Digital Art, Alma, Canada, 2008

Activities
Collaborative Cyanotype Workshop, Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre, Kelowna, Canada, 2024
SNAP Photographic Art Auction, Toronto, Canada, 2024, 2023
The Smith Foundation Brilliance Gala, North Vancouver, Canada, 2023
University of Victoria MFA oral defense external examiner, Canada, 2022
Edition, Toronto International Art Book Fair with Art Metropole, Canada, 2021
abC Art Book Fair with Art Metropole, Beijing, China, 2021
BOOKED: Art Book Pop-Ups with Art Metropole, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong, 2021
Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair with Art Metropole, New York City, USA, 2021
Vancouver Art Book Fair with Access Gallery, Canada, 2020
Capture Photography Festival Canada Line jury member, Vancouver, Canada, 2018
Art on Paper Fair, New York City, USA, 2017
Feature Contemporary Art Fair, Toronto, Canada, 2015
Art with Heart auction, Casey House Foundation, Toronto, Canada, 2010
Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, Canada, 2009

Bibliography & Essay
There is No Landscape There, Yani Kong, Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, 2024
Ensemble: An Interview with Karen Zalamea, Emmy Lee Wall, Capture Photography Festival catalogue, 2024
P.S.–3.1, Scott McLeod, Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, 2023
Aesthetics of Contact: An Eco-Materialist Photography, Laurie White, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, 2023
Coursing, Katrina Goetjen, Or Gallery, 2023
Vancouver Insider Series with Resident Artist Karen Zalamea, Genevieve Michaels, Burrard Arts Foundation, 2018
Spectres of Desire, Kimberly Phillips, Franc Gallery, 2016
Picturing Drift, Mapping Disorientation, Pablo Rodriguez, TRUCK Contemporary Art, 2012
Sharing and Digital Photography, Matthew Williamson, Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, 2010

Press
Artist in Residence will share her passion for creating cyanotypes, UBC Okanagan News, July 25, 2024
Capture, Karen Henry, Ciel Variable, June 19, 2024
At the Gordon Smith Gallery, Prevailing Landscapes contrasts Canada's distinct wilderness with urban forces, Emily Lyth, Stir, Apr 24, 2024
Public Art Reflects Filipino-Canadian Culture in New Westminster, BC, OMNI Television Filipino, Apr 15, 2024
Artist Karen Zalamea celebrates Filipino culture with Ensemble at Capture Photography Festival, Charlie Smith, Pancouver, Apr 10, 2024
Six Asian Canadian Artists: Visionaries on Our Radar, Art Canada Institute, May 5, 2023
Here and Now, Michael Turner, Preview Art Magazine, Apr-May 2023
New Three-Dimensional Photography Exhibition Opens in Abbotsford, Kristin Lim, Scout Vancouver, Jan 24, 2023 
On Karen Zalamea’s They are lost as soon as they are made, The Capilano Review, Apr 2021
They are lost as soon as they are made, Bernard Schütze, Espace art actuel, Issue 128, 2021
Language Matters, Ben Lerner, Canadian Art, Summer 2018
Spectres of Desire at Franc Gallery, Sunshine Frere, Vancouver is Awesome, Apr 4, 2016
Portfolio d’artiste: Karen Zalamea, Punctum arts visuels, Oct 17, 2013
Optic Nerve, BlackFlash Magazine, No. 28.3 Summer 2011
Proof: Fresh Frames, Canadian Art, Jul 15, 2010
Belles Applications, Bernard Lévy, Vie des arts, No. 217 Hiver 2009-2010
Le geste contre la doctrine, Jérôme Delgado, Le Devoir, Aug 22-23, 2009
Tools of Production, Christopher Olson, Montréal Mirror, Aug 6-12, 2009

Artist Talks & Panels
Art Education Unveiled: Perspectives from Prevailing Landscapes, Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, North Vancouver, 2024
Ensemble Artist Talk, Anvil Centre, New Westminster, 2024
Artist Talk, University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, 2024, 2023
Here and Now Artist Talk, Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver, 2023
image/object Artist Panel Discussion, The Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, 2023
Live from the Studio, Griffin Art Projects, North Vancouver, 2022
Saturday Session (on Mutable Materialism), Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, 2022
Tuloy, Tawid Speaker Series, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Grande Prairie, 2021
Sharing the Field, Load na Dito Projects, Quezon City, Philippines, 2020
In Conversation, Access Gallery, Vancouver, 2019
Artist Talk, Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver, 2018
Artist Talk, Burrard Arts Foundation, Vancouver, 2018
An Anatomical Trajectory (public art tour), Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver, 2017
Artist Talk, Franc Gallery, Vancouver, 2016
Artist Talk, SÍM House, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2015
Speaking Off It (panel), Capture Photography Festival, Field Contemporary, Vancouver, 2015
Artist Talk, Centre A, Vancouver, 2014
Artist Talk, OCAD University, Toronto, 2013
Artist Talk, Gallery 295, Vancouver, 2013
Artist Talk, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John’s, 2011
Artist Talk, Modern Fuel, Kingston, 2010