ARTIST: Carolyn Reed Barritt

(Ann Arbor, MI)

Bejeweled

(mixed-media)

April 13, 2019 – May 18, 2019

ARTIST STATEMENT:
The creature-like sculptures in this series are meant to be enticing and beautiful, evoking sparkling, otherworldly entities, or hybrids from a cartoon universe. Underlying this lighthearted facade, with the fusion of gaudy ornamentation, bright colors and growth-like embellishments onto organic objects, they are also my visual interpretation of a love of excess, and of our commodification of the natural world. The materials used in creating these artworks are a combination of segments of ink-painted tree trunks and branches, ink-painted wood, natural beads, pins, and wire. The beads on the smaller objects are all held in place by straight pins. The beads in the wire mesh of Swoon are suspended on monofilament.

BIO:
I am a professional fine-art painter and sculptor. My sculptural works incorporate a diverse spectrum of materials, both natural and man-made, including branches, wood, metal, and glass. My paintings and drawings are made from ink, graphite, markers and paint. I have taught art workshops, given lectures about my artwork, and conduct private classical drawing lessons in addition to my studio practice. I exhibit my artwork extensively and have artwork in collections in the USA and Europe. I was recently commissioned to create artworks for the Kimpton de Witt hotel in Amsterdam, Holland, and one of my 42×180-inch paper murals is being used in the feature film, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” currently in production. I live and work in Ann Arbor.