Carolyn Cantrell was born and raised in Mansfield, Georgia. She is currently pursuing her BA at Georgia College & State University. Together with her senior studies, Carolyn has aided professors as a printmaking practicum, assisting new printmaking students and organizing studio operations. Carolyn specializes in figurative designs, working with symbolic imagery and anthropomorphism to convey meanings in a striking and provocative way.
Project Statement
I will produce a triptych of linocut prints exploring the changing nature of death. As well as a 60” x 60” multimedia wall relief depicting complex family dynamics titled “Mother Devourer, Father Fearful, Child Consumed.” This wall relief explores ideas of mortality and vulnerability. The characters I have created represent anthropomorphic beings that conceptually capture themes of spirituality, myth, personal experiences, nurturing, life, and death. I am inspired by Kiki Smith, Marisol Escobar, and Mark Ryden.
Artist Statement
Because We Die is a connected narrative that explores different observations about what realities might come about as a consequence of human mortality. Due to its inevitability, there are some who are defeated by it. However, there also exists in some belief systems, such as Orthodox Christianity, the notion that death has been defeated itself. The wall piece, “Mother Devourer, Father Fearful, Child Consumed,” shows an anthropomorphized family afflicted by the cyclical effects of the former concept. In contrast, the printed triptych shows a figurative unfolding of the latter concept.
I am drawn to the topic of mortality and its consequences because it is a universal reality that must be confronted by everyone. Because I struggle with social cues and navigating interpersonal relationships and interactions, I use anthropomorphic figures to circumvent my own alienation by conveying traits and feelings without as much of the subtlety of human emotions. Likewise, death is a topic that is equally unknown and alienating to all of us, regardless of social grace or aptitude. This mindset of seeking a foreign middle ground between myself and my viewers also motivates my visual and material philosophy. I gravitate towards grotesque visuals with tactile and textural elements that subvert traditional artistic beauty because the emotions they evoke can be alienating, which in some ways equalizes me with my viewer.