Born in 1957 in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, Karen Dugas earned a BFA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and an MFA from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. She has had 14 solo exhibitions and shown in over 250 national and international competitive exhibitions, winning eleven awards including: Jury Prize, 16th National Biennial of Graphic Art, Ljubljana (1985); Superior Class prize, Fifth International Print Biennial, Seoul, Korea (1986); and Best in Show (Digital New Media), 8th Ottawa School of Art International Miniature Print Biennale (2020).

In 2017, her work was featured in “LIGHT/MATTER; Art at the Intersection of Photography and Printmaking”, Grunewald Gallery of Art, Bloomington Indiana, USA; “The Looking Glass”, The Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton; “Masterpieces of Contemporary Canadian Printmaking” and ARDEL Gallery of Modern Art, Bangkok, Thailand. She lives and works south of Elk Island Park in Alberta, Canada.