Karla Black studied fine art and philosophy at the Glasgow School of Art between 1999 and 2004. After graduation she continued to live and work in Glasgow. Black is especially known as a sculptor, combining in her works different subjects from traditional art-making materials such as a paper, plaster, and chalk with such everyday objects and substances as cosmetic, toiletries, sugar, and cellophane. She works with different spaces, making a kind of abstract installation, sculptures that connect with Land Art and performance art. Black has exhibited her work internationally, representing Scotland at the fifty-fourth Venice Biennale (2011). She was shortlisted for the 2011 Turner Prize. Recent solo exhibitions include shows at the Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, Germany (2013), the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2013), the Gemeente Museum, The Hague (2013), the Dallas Museum of Art (2012), the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2012), and the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (2012), among others.