Carolyne Kardia studied at St Martin's School of Art and then the Royal College of Art in London, receiving an MA in sculpture in 1977. She also completed a postgraduate diploma in art and psychology at Hertfordshire College of Art. Her early work took the form of sculptural installation with cast components made in response to the architecture of particular gallery spaces. Painting became a central part of her practice once she began to work in colour. She continues to make site-specific sculpture, often in conjunction with two-dimensional work. Of her bold use of pigment, Kardia says: "The colours aim to speak of themselves, to be disassociated from their method of application and soar above themselves, but equally they are rooted in the materiality of pigment and surface."