Carrie has always been an explorer of materials. Her creativity is a life journey that has diversified many times along the path.
“I love to see how far a material will take you, be it cotton, silver or steel!”
Whether stealing fabric from her Mothers sewing room as a child, or dumpster diving when something catches her eye-she has never seen objects purely as what they were made for, rather for the qualities they contain.
“Creative solutions are way of life for me. Raising children alone with little money meant clothes were frequently ‘upcycled’ and re-worked-long before it was cool!”
Finally finding her way to an art school in 2003, she graduated with an Honours Diploma in Art & Creativity. This is where, amongst other things, she discovered a love of working with metal. She enjoyed the processes of jewellery making until a concussion injury in 2017 meant a reassessment of her practice. “I’m still not able to focus on it for long. The vision area of my brain was pretty messed up! The hardest thing was that I was unable to even view artworks. I thought about my experiences with the WAG organization, and some of the amazing gallery visits…..it was a challenging time.”
Having returned to her studies in 2016, she graduated with an Advanced Diploma in post-modern design with The Learning Connexion in 2018. “It really pushed me! But it sent me on another exciting journey into the unknown…taking the idea of materiality to the extreme” Those ideas are present in her ‘drawings’, produced in 2019 using 30 year old book binding fabrics.
“My work often references ongoing concern for the planet. Water cycle reminds us of the role we have in disrupting the balance of Nature-as evidenced in the cycle of drought and deluge we now face. I have been taking it out and planting it in various sites, it’s causing fantastic conversations with children!”
As well as creating impermanent site specific sculptural installations (2010-), Carrie has enjoyed exhibiting in joint art events many times, both in her home country of Aotearoa (NZ) (2005-2018) and through participation in WAG events 2013-2016.
“I continue to explore……”
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