BY SHALEEN DESTEFANO

We found Carrie’s colorful and hyper-local paintings on Instagram as one does. But it’s not often that we fall in love with an artist’s work, only to find out that they also happen to be a neighbor. We fell in love with her bold depictions of women in their prime, local haunts and surreal portraits. She sat down with us at Wash Perk to tell us more about her journey as an artist. 

Tell us a little bit about your background… What made you interested in art? Who were your early influencers?

My mom studied art in college and now makes jewelry and my dad has a huge passion for theater so art has always had a big presence in my life. I also grew up in DC where all the Smithsonian museums are free, which I totally took for granted!

I was lucky to see a lot of plays as a kid and even sat in on rehearsals at a local theater my dad was involved in. Looking back, this definitely inspired my desire to tell stories through art. I was never interested in acting, but I loved seeing how directors, set designers and costume designers paid so much attention to detail to create a whole world. It’s still so magical to me.

I moved to New York to study Studio Art in college. The city was incredibly inspiring but my program left me pretty disillusioned about the art world and craving something more grounded. When I graduated, I decided to shift gears and study art education. I then taught visual art in public schools for the next 10ish years.

Who are your current art inspirations? Do you look to other contemporary artists’ work during your artistic process?

I get a lot of inspiration from movies, especially from surrealist/absurdist directors like Stanley Kubrick, Yorgos Lanthimos, and of course David Lynch. Stills from Lynch’s movies are like paintings! I absolutely love how he uses color and artificial light. I’m drawn to visual artists who create vivid stories and characters that walk a line between familiar and mysterious, like Gregory Crewdson, Cindy Sherman and Kara Walker. I’m also inspired by these contemporary artists in New York, like Danielle Roberts, Lizzie Lunday and Maud Madsen who create stylized figurative paintings that just feel so of their time.

I love viewing contemporary art and find a lot of inspiration from other artists, but it’s also been helpful for me to learn when I need to see things from someone else’s perspective, and when I need to just get to work on my own. It can be really easy to accidentally adopt another artist’s style, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but trusting my own way of seeing has been crucial for developing my own voice.

Your work weaves between abstract and realism. Where do you find your inspiration and how do you see your work evolving?

I want my work to access both the personal and the universal. My more realistic paintings tend to be more personal, while the surreal pieces are more universal. During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time going on long walks around the neighborhood, looking at houses and imagining wild stories about the lives inside. I made surreal drawings and paintings of people as houses and quirky interior spaces that were meant to tap into universal feelings within the viewer. I was seeking a way to connect with others, all experiencing the same isolation simultaneously.

In 2022, I left teaching to care for my newborn son and painted a lot of realistic domestic scenes. I was so awed by the beautiful fleeting moments of early motherhood that I wanted to document them. I also spent a lot of time trapped on the couch breastfeeding, which forced me to be present and actually look at my surroundings in ways I never really had.

For a while, my work oscillated between these two perspectives. Gradually, I feel like that pendulum swing has narrowed somewhere in the middle between real and surreal, which I suspect it will continue to do.

What is your state of mind when you are painting?

While working, I’m usually in a calm state of deep concentration. Even during a painting’s inevitable “ugly phase,” I’m pretty chill about it, despite not being a particularly chill person in other areas of my life.

What’s your take on the Denver art scene? Do you have any favorite local artists, and would you ever consider collaborating?

The Denver art scene is awesome! The people I’ve met have been so welcoming and helpful. I also find their artwork to be very down-to-earth and truly meant for everyone, which I can’t say of a lot of contemporary art I see.

I love collaboration and want to do more of it! Last year I collaborated with my friend and fellow artist Morgan Cofer, an incredible watercolor landscape painter. Together, we made a few diorama-style paintings combining my interior-scapes with her landscapes, viewable out a window or on a screen. The work has a fractured, disjointed look that creates a tension I really like.

For the last year, I’ve been attending monthly open critiques at Art Gym Denver. I’ve met some of my favorite local artists there, like Rick Dallago, Kat Robinson, Jamie Gray and Kaitlyn Tucek. Their work and feedback have been really inspiring! Some other local artists that have been blowing my mind lately are Kim Faber, Jenna Cruff and Raven Rohrig, whose works are quite different from mine, but still provide me with insights I’ve brought back to my own practice. Now I feel bad only mentioning these artists when there are many others I look up to in this town!

You have worked in the public school system in New York and Denver as an art teacher. Can you tell us about this experience, and also what is your advice for budding artists?

I could easily write a whole essay on the trials and triumphs of teaching in the public school system, but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say that I found it incredibly challenging, humbling, and rewarding. My students were so inspiring and helping them access the creative process as a means of coping, problem-solving, and expression was such a gift. I’ve also seen first hand how crucial art education is for a child’s development. It’s the one subject where students actually have agency over their learning and can synthesize what they’re learning in a variety of subject areas. In short, it’s the most important subject in school, but I’ll get off my soapbox now.

My advice for budding artists is to try as hard as you can to tell yourself that it doesn’t matter if the work is “good” and just keep making things. Often young artists get stifled when they develop a sense of what is “good” when they don’t yet have the skills to create something “good” themselves. This can be so discouraging. It’s not revolutionary advice, but turns out that if you just keep working and experimenting, you will get somewhere. I’ve seen it! Of course this is far easier said than done.

You have a distinct style, what are your guiding principles when choosing your subject matter?

My process of choosing subject matter is fairly intuitive. I often don’t fully understand why I’m drawn to a particular subject until I’m working on the piece. Creating several works this way has given me insight into what subject matter actually means to me. For example, my “Birds of Paradise” series features older women in pairs. This series started when I made “Beach Gossips,” a painting of two older women chatting in the ocean. I just fell in love with them and wanted to be them, so I went with it. After creating several paintings with similar subjects, I started to realize that my interest in them was a way to process my feelings about aging and the strange ways we perceive the passage of time. The subjects serve as a visual manifestation of a future I want for myself when I’m older.

Can you give us a visual of your studio? Is there music playing? Do you work better at night or during the day?

Currently, my “studio” is a little corner of my kitchen counter, dining room table, and a hidden cabinet that my toddler doesn’t know about yet. (Don’t tell him!) The set-up is less than ideal, but I like that it’s right in the center of things. I can leave my paintings out so I can see them and think of things I want to do next, even if I don’t have time to work. Sometimes I’ll leave myself little notes about next steps.

I find time to work during my son’s naps, after he’s gone to bed, and when someone else is watching him. I’m usually listening to podcasts or enjoying some rare silence.

Where can we see your work and what can we expect from you in the future?

I’ll also be in some group shows coming up at Niza Knoll Gallery opening 6/30, and Bear Creek Distillery opening 7/5. I also have a collection of prints on display at Wash Perk Coffeehouse! The most up-to-date place to see my work is my instagram account, @carrie.made.this.

Thank you Carrie, for sharing your art with the world. We can’t wait to see what you dream up for your next pieces!