Karin Bubaš, born in 1976 in North Vancouver, is a photographer who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design and graduated in 1998. Bubaš has exhibited nationally and internationally, most notably in Paris, Brussels and Washington D.C. Exhibitions have included Karin Bubaš; A Short History of Subjects and Objects at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris and With Friends Like These… at the Charles H. Scott Gallery in Vancouver. Her work has also been included in numerous publications, such as Canadian Art, Prefix Photo, Grantland Quarterly, In Touch Magazine, and The Walrus as well as featured on several blogs including Radar Online, E! News, Teen Vogue, and the NY Times Style Section.
Karin Bubaš’ diverse practice includes photography, video, painting and drawing. Her work is concerned with both the natural and built environment, and her subjects range from the banal and mundane to the outright sublime. Her early photographs focused on unpopulated interiors, specifically ordinary objects and overlooked spaces including an abandoned residence on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Leon’s Palace, 2001), the décor of her grandparents home (Florence and George, 1998) and the rooms of a Victorian rowhouse in London, England (Ivy House, 2003).
Bubaš shifted focus from interiors to landscapes with her Studies in Landscapes and Wardrobe series (2006 to the present). These photographic works depict carefully styled, solitary female figures set within an idyllic landscape. The women in the series always look away from the camera, contemplating nature. The works reference the depiction of women in art and cinema and Hollywood feature films, particularly the films of Michelangelo Antonioni and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the tradition of the sublime in 19th century landscape painting. The tension between nature and culture is played out through the formal and carefully chosen wardrobe, which echoes the colours of the landscape yet also looks slightly out-of-place within the natural environment. As the women’s face is always out of view, her clothing and hairstyle take centre stage and essentially function as another set piece within the scene. The viewer is left to contemplate the relationship between the figure and the setting and interpret what events might have brought her to this idyllic place.
-Grant Arnold
Karin Bubaš is represented by the Monte Clark Gallery in Vancouver.