Karen Steen is an innovative artist who is new to the Lehigh Valley. She moved to Bethlehem from Southern California with her family in 2005 and recently completed a master’s degree in Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.

Her work includes drawing, printmaking, collage and mixed media. Steen’s unique pieces are made with a variety of materials, including paints, inks, cardboard, wood, nails, wire, thread and mesh. She likes to capitalize on changes to materials produced by drips, rust, wrinkling or immersion in liquid. The microscopic realm is her primary source of inspiration. Its myriad forms and intricate systems, which are the building blocks of the universe, are a source of understanding and mystery.