Artist Statement
For me art is about seeking clarity, working through ideas and understanding. I always work in a series often repeating images, changing materials. I’m thinking about the natural environment, interested in depicting light and space to create a place for connection and wonder. I enjoy the labour of drawing beginning with observation and using a variety of materials; the repetition of mark making, building a surface slowly and knowing that sometimes a work needs to be re-purposed and then beginning again.
Inspired by the natural world but concerned about the deepening climate crisis and the intensifying battle between the needs of communities and global business, the small, slow acts of living including art-making become essential as avenues of hope and action.
We move through natural spaces that offer quiet, comfort or reassurance, not always wild but often nature as it is found in urban green spaces, parks, woodlands, local trails. It is about the in-between, the responding to our environment where we have a heightened self-awareness, the connection to something more and a sense of belonging; not just a refuge but an extension of our cultural selves.
Artist Bio
Caroline works from her studio in Paisley making drawings and mixed materials works on paper with a developing interest in photography. A Canadian Scot, Caroline attended Fanshawe College in London, Ontario and completed her studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design which included a self-directed residency in the Orkney Islands. She has exhibited in Canada and Scotland in solo and group exhibitions including the RGI and Visual Art Scotland with work in private collections. She received a Visual Artist and Craft Makers Award (VACMA) to develop her interest in photography resulting in 2 series; From the Ground and her first zine Here to the Roll Shop. Caroline has a strong commitment to the cultural life where she lives. She is a board member for Creative Renfrewshire, a network of individuals and organisations working creatively and culturally across the region. She operated Studio 14 for 12 years providing youth and adult art classes and was co-founder of WMT (2011-2016), a Renfrewshire arts organisation operating across Scotland. She is a council member for the Scottish Centre for Geopoetics and leads the editorial team for the online journal Stravaig.
