Karolina Serrano
Nelson
Rhythms of Barranquilla
mixed media on canvas, 2022
Blush Reverie
acrylic on canvas, 2023
Butterflies in Bloom
mixed media on canvas, 2023
You can see more of Karolina’s art on facebook and instagram.
This series celebrates inner strength, cultural identity, and the many forms of beauty around us. Each painting invites us to look beyond the surface, to feel the vitality, tenderness, and resilience carried within every soul.
Rhythms of Barranquilla is a joyful tribute to the carnival’s music, myth, and rhythm. Grey-toned skin reminds us that colour lives deep within, radiating through her smile and the spirit of her roots.
Blush Reverie is a quiet meditation on identity and inner strength. In the glow of red, tenderness and power meet, showing that true beauty is not limited by place or culture, but carried proudly within.
Inspired by Frida Kahlo, Butterflies in Bloom celebrates resilience and transformation. Like petals unfolding and wings taking flight, it shows how tenderness and vulnerability can become a source of strength, revealing beauty that rises from the most delicate places.
Karolina Serrano is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative path was shaped early on within a family of over 60 painters, where storytelling and artistic expression coloured everyday life.
With a background in the performing arts, she approaches each portrait as a living story — blending bold colour, emotion, and imagination to spark playful collisions between reality and dreams. Much like building stage roles, she imagines each character’s dreams, struggles, and inner worlds, bringing them to life on canvas. Her work explores how imagination and perception shape the way we see ourselves and others, celebrating the beauty of viewing the world through a unique lens.
Passionate about the role of art in fostering healing and belonging, Karolina has led creative initiatives with migrants and former refugees.
She also designs hand-painted jewellery and accessories, carrying the spirit of her heritage into wearable art.
Karolina has worked on other projects for Make/Shift Spaces – including an artwork next to the Theatre Royal, and, in her role as Cultural Navigator for Shared Communities, she coordinated the large-scale Nile St ArtWall. Karolina also painted one of the Chorus Boxes on Waimea Road – it’s a stunner!
