Karen Black
Woman with Moustache, 2017

QLD, AUSTRALIA
oil on WOOD
46 x 60 cm

Karen Black’s Woman with Moustache (Line Up) is a playful yet disarming portrait that blurs the line between the familiar and the absurd. Painted in oil on wood, its textured surface and gestural brushwork infuse the figure with immediacy and warmth, while the unconventional moustache disrupts expectations of femininity and identity.

The work balances humour and poignancy: the lightness of its title contrasts with the expressive, almost tender rendering of the subject. Black’s use of muted tones and rough-hewn strokes creates a raw, intimate atmosphere - one that invites us to reconsider how identity is performed, perceived, and subverted.

At once bold and enigmatic, the painting reflects Black’s ongoing fascination with human narratives, capturing the idiosyncrasies and imperfections that make her figures feel alive and deeply present.