KAREN MONID | SOUND & VISUAL ARTIST

ARTS EXHIBITIONS & FESTIVALS | OUTDOOR PUBLIC EVENTS | THEATRE & NATIONAL HERITAGE

Karen is an award-winning sound & visual artist specialising in projection, creating & programming some of the most striking & memorable creative art works and event projects in the world.

Her practice is often working on large scale installations, pushing the boundaries of the son et lumière genre of architectural projection & sound works. She embraces opportunities to work collaboratively & has a longstanding creative partnership with Ross Ashton of The Projection Studio.

She has produced many successful soundscape art installations, with a particular interest in natural sound, 3D environment creation and spatial perception. Her work is heavily researched and has included historic soundscape creation and the early languages of the British Isles. Her music pieces are rooted in and inspired by the melodies and rhythms of early Western music, sacred and secular.

Her installations draw positive public engagement with new art & national media attention. She has given talks & lectures on her work & practice to a wide range of audiences, including at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford & Durham, where she is Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies in recognition of her work. Her work has also featured on BBC Radio 3 & 4. She has also appeared on several TV programmes.

RECENT WORK INCLUDES:

‘Phoenix‘, a large scale projection and sound installation at York Minster about the 1984 fire and rebuild of the historic south transept;
Clifford’s Tower audio interpretation‘, a permanent immersive sound installation at Clifford’s Tower, York for English Heritage. This multichannel installation of multiple historic scenes was created from deep dive research and script building in early English and French languages, working with Durham University, the University of York and the National Archives. The regeneration project for the Tower has won several awards, including two chosen by the public.
‘The Mills Are Alive‘, a sound and projection installation onto the vast chimney at Lister’s Mills, Bradford. This major work told the story of the Mills, its site and people for the winning ‘UK City of Culture’ bid for Bradford. As main history and music researcher, script writer and audio creative, this major project worked directly with local residents, organisations and musicians.

PAST WORK INCLUDES:

Song Of The Pine‘ audio and video installation at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens winter trail ‘Light Up Hillier Gardens’. This 5.1 exterior surround sound installation with tree projection was voted the Visitors’ Favourite Installation in 2023.
‘Christmas In Narnia‘, audio design and creation for the 2021 award winning interior trail at Castle Howard, created alongside CLW Design.

Installations at Berlin Festival of Light, Being Human Festival, Light Night Leeds, Night of Heritage Light (Oxford), the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics son et lumière on the Houses of Parliament, London, Humanities Light Night (TORCH, Oxford), Light Up Poole, Cambridge e-Luminate Festival, Illuminating York, SO Festival (Lincolnshire).

UPCOMING WORK:

FOR SPRING 2025: Podcasts, and a touring artwork to be announced – watch this space!
‘Yggdrasil Mapping’ for ‘Into The Forest‘ – an AHRC research project collaborating with BBC documentary maker Dr Eleanor Barraclough (Associate Professor, Durham University)
‘Hidden Heritage’ project – Research into the soundworld of the chapel of Durham Castle, from its 11th century founding through to the present day as a core member of this Durham University originated research group.