Carolyn Carr paintings on exhibit
Her remarkable paintings are among the most detailed and lifelike of any artist working in Belize…but it’s not often that Carolyn Carr puts her original work on display. And that’s all the more reason to catch her current exhibition at the Mexican Cultural centre. News 5’s Janelle Chanona reports.
Carolyn Carr, Artist
“It does take a certain amount of humility to have an exhibition, because you have to say no matter if it’s good or bad or indifferent, I do need to show my work. So I said 2001 was the year.”
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
In her first exhibition in seven years, artist Carolyn Carr is adding a different technique to her familiar subject matter.
Carolyn Carr
“Those of us that paint with oils use basically oil paint, turpentine, canvas and whatever, so at some point you ask yourself, is this all I can get out of this? And so it occurred to me one day, hey, let’s try to incorporate into this, some shadows, some depth of field and so I began experimenting with getting a little bit of a tactile effect. And the next thing you know, it evolves into making little screws and little nuts and little bolts and sledge hammers, baby birds, it’s endless. It’s challenging yourself to move a little bit deeper into your medium.
When you are sitting in front of that canvas you have a lot of time to think, and really a lot of what you’re painting is basically…it’s not like you have to have deep thoughts to do it. So you just keep putting paint on canvas, and pretty soon you find yourself relating in a personal way, especially with the people. I personally like to paint people, faces. And the next thing you know, you get to know these people and in your mind you start telling yourself stories and then they start living. And the next thing you know, you’re feeling sorry for them or you’re cheering them on. Then it’s like, wait a minute, yes, they are real people, real people with real problems and out of that evolves real stories.”
One story Carr loves to tell is about women, especially Belizean women.
Carolyn Carr
“Paintings of women, solving the problems that women have to solve, are some of my favourite subjects. I have a special place in my heart for women who are left with responsibilities beyond their means. And unfortunately, that is a lot of women, in not only Belize, but world-wide. And so I find myself gravitating toward themes that, if you will “big up” the spirit of women and the fortitude of women solving problems.”
Reporting for News 5, I am Janelle Chanona.
Proceeds of the exhibition will benefit the King’s Children Home in Belmopan. Carr is holding a silent auction of two paintings: one, an original of children and the other, a portrait whose subject will be chosen by the highest bidder. All bids must be submitted at the Mexican Cultural Institute. The exhibition ends on January eleventh.
