Karma Shawa

“Alter ego” is a fragmented self-portrait that portrays the ongoing dialogue between multiple selves—real, idealised, suppressed, or evolving. The multiple figures in the painting reflect the layered and fluid nature of identity and is an exploration of feminine subjectivity. Each figure embodies roles that women often navigate: muse, observer, sensual being, creator, thinker. These archetypes are not isolated; together they form a complex, relational identity. The composition resists a linear narrative, instead unfolding as a psychological and emotional map that is in flux, cyclical and unresolved.

Karma Shawa is a self taught artist whose painting style draws inspiration from a number of art movements, including Western academic classical painting and modern figurative art. Working mainly in oil and watercolours, her work revolves around notions of identity, motherhood and politics combining abstract elements with figurative detail. Karma has shown her work in a number of group exhibits and art fairs in Ireland, the UK, and Jordan over the past decade.