I scour the shelves, bins and racks at thrift stores for vintage photos, suitcases, quilts, greeting cards, pillowcases, clothing and ephemera from everyday life. Of particular excitement and interest to me is discovering evidence from the previous owner…handwriting on the back of a photograph or greeting card, stitches in a quilt or on a handmade garment. I feel a strong connection to an anonymous person from an unknown time and place. The power of mark making and stitches bind us together in humanity and suggest imagined narratives and a renewed purpose.
Domestic textiles become imbued with the spirit of my imagined foremothers - emblazoned with positive affirmations – as if the spirit of the maker comes to life and offers solace and support. I connect with the women contained in vintage photographs and contemplate how best to share their stories. Greeting cards offer examples of long-ago friendships and connection and they become pattern, color and material for collages. Suitcases display stickers of the places they’ve been and serve as functional storage, installation props and literal reminders of the baggage we carry. I am the caretaker of these thrifted and found objects and the messenger from which their stories flow.
Artist Biography
Carole is a native of New Jersey and received her B.F.A. from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and her M.F.A. from University of South Florida in Tampa. Previously, she taught and directed the Foundations program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the School of Art and Design. Currently, she is the Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA and teaches Sculpture, Senior Seminar and coordinates the Foundations program. Carole has had group and solo exhibitions in many states throughout the US. She spent over 10 years investigating the color red through a variety of abstract sculptural approaches and processes. Most recently, she has been utilizing found vintage textiles with text to examine what it means to be a woman in our culture.
Carole lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two children and dogs.
Education
2001 University of South Florida, College of Art and Art History, Tampa, FL MFA, Sculpture
1997 Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, NJ BFA, Sculpture
Awards & Honors
Residencies
2020 Arrowmont School of Art, Spring Pentaculum, Gaitlinburg, TN Invited
Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughn, Ireland
Bibliography
2020 Interview, Creative Voice of Germantown, Germantown Artist Roundtable, Germantown Radio, Philadelphia, PA
Les Femmes La Folles, Morgantown, WV, January 2020
"Featured Artist, September 2020," Sea Lion, Wayward Daughter, Elkins, WV
2019 Art Uncovered Podcast with Kimberly Ruth, New York, NY
Culture Club Interview, WJFF 90.5 FM Catskill Radio, Jeffersonville, NY
2018 Kreiger, Deborah, "Sculptors probe the impossibility of 'shelter' at Da Vinci Art Alliance," Artblog.org, Philadelphia, PA
Rosenfeld, Alix, "A Shelter Where Words Fail," Broad Street Review, Philadelphia, PA
Lear, Len, "Dramatic 'Achromatic' exhibit opens in gallery at SCH," Chestnut Hill Local, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Geringer, Dan, “Germantown artist celebrates her neighborhood’s diversity,” Philadelphia Daily News, March 2015
