I have always lived inside an image-based culture. Consumer society taught me how to become literate in visual imagery and read messages, but never to excavate the origins of my most cherished rituals and assumptions. You know, the things that appear around me every day in the world that most don’t question. The images that circulate throughout society are constantly being constructed, reconstructed and recycled. And here I am, decoding the ever more complex messages, signs and traces of the everyday. The current accessibility of information has made it easy to combine and recombine- and form a version that is my own.
Every source, situation and identity morphs continually depending on time, place and disposition. Things, places and people come and go; nothing is permanent. Here I go again, sifting through the rubble to find something that can be made again, reused, and combined. Bit by bit by bit. Are you in or out? Life goes on.
My hand activates an existing source; I see myself as a catalyst that transfers other peoples’ hands, heart, head and voices in a collaborative process. The focus on my work isn’t myself, even though I am the composer, the chooser. One that mixes, not just in terms of imagery, but in terms of methodologies. I use the found and the felt, the improvisational and the strategic. Some things you stumbled upon or you think you find. Other things you run right back into, or they find you all over again. Most of the time I make do with what I have available to me. A certain type of fragmentation.
I deal with pieces, scraps. These pieces are something I want to hold on to. Something that presented a value to me I need to preserve, save. I will find a use for them later, within my visual lexicon of sources, fragments. Pick up the pieces and put them back together, like brand new. The bodilessness of information is the recombiner’s pleasure. The hardest part is deciding which are worth keeping and which parts you could throw away. Not all shards are worth saving.
Constructing images through methods of collage is immediate and ferocious; no time to thick twice, no room for second guessing. Making a quick decision right then and there; get on with it, hurry up! The result of rapidly combining forms, shapes and text together is instantly gratifying and indulging. Collage is a form of urgent process, response and action. Second guessing destroys the intensity of the present; the present moment is the most important moment. That snapshot freezing time and place, solidifying the value of the image. These times we live in are bold, intense. I get lost in it. I make paintings that embody the present moment and place in which I find myself.
I occupy myself in the seamless integration of various surfaces and forms within that surface. Rectifying the incoherence of mark-marking between a digital surface and painted gesture, I am informed by the graphic crispness of the way images are digested. Lines can connect images, points, references and surfaces. Painting on digital and printed materials serves to expose the fragility of the surface.
I tear what the world gives me into pieces and put it back together with paint. Tearing is an act of frustration, defiance and play against what is brilliantly manufactured for me to consume. Ripping is a way for me to physically expose rough edges and ideas that do not align perfectly. I’m making sense of all the parts as they appear. Not all relationships are seamless, but mark making can pull sources, images and text together. That immediate gesture and line in the form of brushstroke is so gratifying, instant. Painting is as immediate as I am, as burning as the present moment; a source of direct activation. I choose to distort and delay the instant.
My mixed media paintings have reached a higher level of density than ever before. Induced by the rapid compilation of sources and signals. Filling up the spaces of my daily existence. I include everything I can within an image, unable to leave anything out. Let me hide here in everything I see, everything I’m exposed to. The breathing room that once lived inside my paintings has vanished; it’s been filled with more density, more noise and more chaos. That chaos speaks to the way I approach making images. Signs. Layers. Versions. Faster, Nearer. More intense. Loud. Fast. Bold. Unrestricted. Turn me up. Set me free. I don’t know how to whisper.
Artist Biography
Danielle Cartier (b.1991) is best known for her mural projects and large-scale, mixed media paintings made from reconstructed materials, recombined ephemera and layered printmaking and painting processes. Danielle was born in California and grew up in the Northern California Bay Area. She graduated from Sonoma State University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, concentrating in painting and printmaking. In 2017, Danielle received her Master of Fine Art in Interdisciplinary Studio Practice from the Graduate School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Her work has been viewed in various solo and group exhibitions across the United States in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Danielle has experience teaching studio art courses at Sonoma State University in California, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey and Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey. She currently teaches various 2D design, color theory and painting courses within the Creative Arts Department at Rowan College of South Jersey and within the Visual Arts Program at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey. Cartier also has experience instructing visual art at various non-profits and community art centers within Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Currently, Cartier teaches adult-level studio art courses at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia and mixed media painting at Perkins Center for the Arts in New Jersey. Since 2017, Danielle has painted and installed over twenty grant-funded public art murals within Camden, New Jersey. Danielle’s various public mural projects in New Jersey have consistently headlined in the South Jersey Courier Post and have been featured on ABC Channel 6 Action New Philadelphia. Cartier continues to make large-scale, mixed media paintings and is working on multiple new public artworks and murals throughout the Philadelphia region and Southern New Jersey in 2023. Most recently, Cartier opened her business, DC Gallery & Studio within the Glasstown Arts District of Millville, New Jersey. Located at 508 N. High Street in Millville, New Jersey, DC Gallery & Studio serves as a new local contemporary art gallery, Cartier's personal studio and a visual arts classroom.
Education
2017 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Master of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Studio Practice
2014 Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting & Printmaking
Awards & Honors
2020 Artists Who Teach 2020, Ellington-White Contemporary Art Gallery, Fayetteville, NC Best in Show
2017 Christopher Lyons Memorial Grant presented by the Graduate Department of Fine Art at the University of Pennsylvania
Grants
2022 Coastal Climate Risk Communications 2022 Grant Recipient, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts
New Jersey State Council of the Arts Local Arts Program 2022 Grant Recipient, Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Public art project in partnership with Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum.
New Jersey State Council of the Arts Local Arts Program 2020 Grant Recipient, Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Public mural project in partnership with Bridge Kids International and the Lanning Square West Residents Association.
2021 New Jersey State Council of the Arts Local Arts Program 2020 Grant Recipient, Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Public mural project in partnership with Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum
New Jersey State Council of the Arts Local Arts Program 2020 Grant Recipient, Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Public mural project in partnership with the Heart of Camden
2020 New Jersey State Council of the Arts Local Arts Program 2020 Grant Recipient, Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission Public mural project completed in partnership with Camden Shipyard and Maritime Museum
Pathways 21st Century Learning Community Grant in partnership with Bridgeton New Jersey Public Schools
2015 - 2017 Graduate School of Design Scholarship Recipient at the University of Pennsylvania
Residencies
2021 Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus Creative Community Arts Integrative Residency in partnership with Woodbury Jr-Sr. High School
$uper $ave Market. 54-page, self-published book, printed in a limited edition of 100. Hand-printed and bound by Danielle Cartier at the University of Pennsylvania, 2016
2013 Cartoon, Sonoma State Star, Editorial/Opinion Section, September 17, 2013
Cartoon, Sonoma State Star, Editorial/Opinion Section, October 15, 2013
Cartoon, Sonoma State Star, Editorial/Opinion Section, October 29, 2013
Collections
The Art Center of Dover, Dover, NH Tom Martin Family Collection Barbara Prince Family Collection Graduate Department of Fine Art at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Affiliations
South Jersey Artist Collective Philadelphia Center for the Book Penn Design Alumni Stockton University AFT Strobe New Jersey Artist Collective Da Vinci Art Alliance South Jersey Cultural Alliance Perkins Center for the Arts Center for Emerging Visual Artists Arts in Embassies Registry Artist InLiquid
Professional Experience
Teaching Experience
2022 Rowan College of South Jersey, Cumberland Campus, Millville, NJ Adjunct Professor of Art
Glasstown Arts District, Downtown Millville, NJ Art Creates Excellence Summer Teaching Artist
Cape May & Cumberland County 2022 Teen Arts Festival, Glasstown Arts District, Downtown Millville, NJ Teaching Artist
Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown and Collingswood, NJ Teaching Artist
2021 - present Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia, PA Teaching Artist
2020 Rutgers University, Camden, NJ Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Capstone Project Advisor
Camden Fireworks Gallery and Creative Space, Camden, NJ Open Studio Program Coordinator
Center for Creative Works, Wynnewood, PA Teaching Artist
2019 - Present Stockton University, Galloway, NJ Adjunct Professor of Visual Art within the School of Arts and Humanities
2019 Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA Visual Arts Instructor at the Summer Institute for the Gifted
Rutgers University, Camden, NJ Portfolio Practices Instructor for the Pre- College Arts Program
2018 Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey, Woodbury, NJ Afterschool Youth Latinx Arts Instructor for the Parent & Child Art Experience
West Windsor Arts Council, Princeton Junction, NJ Mixed Media Painting Instructor
2017 – 2021 Rutgers University, Camden, NJ Part-time Lecturer and Professor (Drawing & Painting), Department of Visual, Media & Performing Arts
2017 Center for the Creative Arts, Hockessin, DE Program Director of the Visual Arts Summer Program
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Guest Critic/Lecturer for Beginning Drawing & Painting Studio, Undergraduate Department of Fine Arts
2017 – 2019 Harcum College, Bryn Mawr, PA Adjunct Professor of Art & Design
2016 Long Lake Camp for the Arts, Long Lake, NY Assistant Creative Director of the Fine Art Department
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA Lecturer
2015 – 2017 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Teaching Assistant in Fine Arts Department, Drawing 1, Drawing Investigations, Painting Studio and Big Picture: Mural Arts
2015 Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA Mural Training Program Artist
2012 – 2014 Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA Teaching Assistant, Department of Art and Art History
Other Professional Experience
2022 Atlantic City Arts Foundation 48 Blocks Triple Adirondack Chair Artist
Alumni Visual Arts Juror, Boundless: Presentation High School’s Art & Literary Magazine
Party in the Park Vendor presented by Stockton University for their 50th Anniversary Celebration
Studio Assistant, Rachel Citrino Studio, Roadstown, NJ
A New View Camden Artist Apprentice Program Participant
Studio Assistant, Rachel Citrino Studio, Roadstown, NJ
Lead Designer, Rust Belt Nation Apparel Company based in Camden, New Jersey.
2020
Visiting Artist Series Interview Moderator, Rutgers University, Camden.
Lead Volunteer Mural Artist, Black Lives Matter Street Mural, Camden, NJ In partnership with the National Stop the Violence Campaign
Studio Assistant, Rachel Citrino Studio, Roadstown, NJ
Hand-painted Signage Artist, the Mighty Writers
2019 Mixed Media Painting Workshop in conjunction with solo exhibit at Noyes Arts Garage at Stockton University in Atlantic City, NJ
2018 Visiting Artist and Judge, Sterling High School Art Show in Somerdale, New Jersey.
2017 Installation Technician of Jenny Holzer wheat paste Truisms, Person of the Crowd: Contemporary Art of Flânerie Exhibition, The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA
Demonstration Technician, "Objects of Study" Symposium sponsored by the Rare Books Library at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Lectures
2021 Visiting Artist Lecture, St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA
Guest Panelist, Career Day at Presentation High School, San Jose, CA
Exhibitions
Solo
2022 Artist of the Month, Gallery on Main, Somerville, NJ
Danielle Cartier Exhibition, The Sheraton, Philadelphia, PA
2021 Danielle Cartier: How to Be Heard, Saint Joseph’s University Gallery at Merion Hall, Merion Station, PA
Mixed Media Painting Installation, Blick Art Materials for Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 2021, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Danielle Cartier: Remnants of Society, Noyes Museum of Art at Stockton University, Atlantic City, NJ
Group
2022 Perennial Visions IV, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Fall Annual Juried Exhibition, Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown, NJ
Changelings, Powell Lane Arts Center, Collingswood, NJ
Clique22 Exhibition, Strobe ArtsC at Kramer Hall of Stockton University, Hammonton, NJ
Reemergence: New Jersey Arts Annual 2022, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
Paperworks, Powell Lane Arts, Collingswood, NJ
Faculty & Members Exhibition 2022, Perkins Center for the Art, Moorestown, NJ
Summer Exhibition, Chora Leone Gallery, Somers Point, NJ
South Jersey Goes Pop!, Arts and Innovation Center at Rowan College of South Jersey, Millville, NJ
Through the Grid, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
Diversity Speaks, Markeim Arts Center, Haddonfield, NJ
38th Annual Art from the Heart Benefit Auction, Sonoma State University Art Gallery, Rohnert Park, CA
Rapid Response Collection, Ross Beitzel Gallery at Rowan College of South Jersey, Sewell, NJ
Annual Juried Show 2022, Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA
