“what you seek is always inside”
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photo by Leland Auslender
In 2003, I had open heart surgery after 2
1/2 years of failing health and misdiagnosis. 11 days after surgery, my surgeon ex-
plained that I should not have made it to the operating table.
Before-photos revealed a heart valve
comprising a flap of skin with no muscular structure.
I should have been dead long before. He
said “I don’t know what you believe, but
this is unexplainable...you have God, Angels, guardians...”
My youth was dedicated to dance, bleeding
feet on point, and endless hours of practice and rehearsals. When a dancer’s body fails, more than one’s health is lost.
As my energy slipped I escaped to a cabin
in the Angeles National Forest for months. Though I, nor any doctors, knew why
medically, life was cutting against me and
my world was shrinking. I survived and like
a survivor, I grabbed life and have never let go since. I was downhill skiing only months after surgery and moved to Europe for 5
1/2 years to explore, develop, play, learn, and love life as only a survivor can.
Through my work, I explore my vision of the world from the whimsical to the profound and from the large to the small.
My congenital heart condition serves as a
physical metaphor for the heartache I’ve felt for the two lost great loves of my life, for the loss of those close to me, and for the
scars upon this world. My work is dedicated to the love and support I’ve felt from family and friends.
Some pieces are pure emotion. Others are observations and reflections. My view of this world is expressed in the shapes,
textures, and colors that I see and the lessons we must learn to share this beautiful world. cover photo by Inga Ambrosia
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self portrait by Carson Case
Contents Vision 6 artist Statement 13 process & 15 paintings, metal studs 16 paintings 2d-3d-4d, metal sheets 19 paintings 2d-3d-4d, glass 21 paintings, glass and sea plants 27 paintings, canvas 29 paintings, X-ray poetry 31
Ecumenical Ecstasy
sculptures, 33 mobiles, The Praying Mantis 35 sustainable collage, circuit boards and sea plants 37 installation,”Which door holds your Truth?” 38 installation, “Caged Fairies” 41 installation, “Genetically Modified” 43 installation, “The Dream” 45 X-ray photography 47 illustrated photography,“Charming Face of Pollution” 49 video installation, “The Suckers” 51 exhibitions (selected past) 53
Timeline and development of work
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Biography 57 an education 59 contact 60
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FIRST! you need to play, to dance, to LIVE! otherwise, what is the point.
And, you need to have a
Vision
Without vision, ideas and innovations, and the autonomous and productive achievement of great ones, you have stagnation; you have a dark age.
My vision is to promote a new path for humanity, and my instrument is art. I use negative aspects to provoke change, while more often using positive aspects to show what is possible.
My sculptures and paintings are designed for both suspension and grounded installation, indoors and outdoors. A glass painting in front of a white wall is transformed when interacting with flowers and trees, architecture and
water. I intend to implement my sculpture works up to monumental scale. The larger they become, the more abstracted, yet always interacting organically with surrounding elements.
Works engaging negative disparities of social, political, economic and environmental often focus on constructs conditioned into our psyche that do not serve well for the future.
The following photos depict my vision for my works installed to scale at prominent locations.
both inside & out
This Vision is embodied in a movement I call the Ecstatic Period, which goes beyond Romanticism’s ideals, including transcending your experience of the world. The aim is to improve the world realistically by driving change and creating a new vision for the future. It is up to us.
We must become conscious and follow our inner truth and encourage others to also do so. We must cultivate achievement and raise rather than lower the bar. We must build sustainable communities by altering what we consume and build to bring our environment into balance. We must utilize available technology to strip bureaucracy for efficient & accountable governing, lower costs, and to free our time for family and friends. We must inform rather than manipulate and empower rather than impede. When we achieve these things, we facilitate divine harmony.
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The glass paintings become increasingly dynamic, as they interact with nature and architecture, and light and shadow. Glass canvas acts as my concrete metaphor for transformation.
Lever House, New York City
room interior
Jeju Art Museum, South Korea
Musée d’Art Moderne de Lille 9
Guggenheim Bilbao exterior
Emirates Fine Art Society, Dubai
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Hirshhorn Museum interior
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Guggenheim interior, NYC
Guggenheim Bilbao interior
Hirshhorn Museum exterior
fountain, Paris
Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi
Rockefeller Center, NYC
Burj Dubai Downtown, Dubai
Guggenheim Bilbao exterior
Modern Art Museum, Dubai
various sizes up to monumental public art : wire, metal, plaster mache 1993-2012
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portrait by Mark Veltman
portrait by Bjorn
self portrait by Carson Case
artist Statement Art is my language to express my world view. I see the world as an eco system of emotion, thought, nature, and moment. I see my role in this world to be a steward of its physical beauty and to seek a balance in how to live in it and how we live with each other.
I attempt to re-create my synesthetic experiences of cross-modal stimuli to promote a look beyond our conditioned perceptions. I interpret images that I see in abstract space and time using accumulative and shifting layers of glass, metal, technology, nature and other objects from demolition sites representing the permutations of our existence. I seek out objects that would otherwise be refuse, not just as an eco artist, but because these objects are not refuse: discarded objects are in transition and for the next moment they will be art, transformed.
Since childhood, I’ve had an intense devotion to inner beauty and passion of spirit. My spiritual desires and connection with nature are an inner necessity, and are central to my art and my work as an artist. I’ve always been captivated and uniquely stimulated by nature and color, hence bold colors and deceased insects representing the extension into afterlife and the eternity of existence. Glass is a metaphor for transformation, as the paintings interact with interiors and exteriors, architecture and nature. Metal is a metaphor for reflection. Unlike a mirror, it’s an imperfect, muted reflection and with work becomes clearer.
Art is my dichotomy. It expresses my intimate passions as a feminine, sexual being. Art is my industry from the sweat and toil it takes to form metal and industrial materials into enormous scale. The world is large. Passions are larger and art should inspire in equal proportion through creativity and a daring to think big. Art is also my celebration of thanks in having this moment to be, my lament for where we fall short, and my revelry. 13
photo by Patrick Wanis
photo by Inga Ambrosia
photo by Tanya Manfrediz
photos by Heather Talbert
process &
photo by Heather Talbert
photo by Whitney Kennett
I’m a petite woman and my process involves significant physical strength and manual labor. I go to demolition sites and save objects like metal studs, window walls, and glass, and experiment with resin, plaster, sand, shards of glass, deceased insects, outdated technology, etc. My art serves as a reflection on the object’s origin, reasons for its destruction, process of saving it, and the direct relationship this has for collective human experience. The role of doors, circuit boards, deceased insects, “tamed” nature, and X-rays serve as powerful leitmotifs. Other motifs include time’s ability to expand and contract, “unseen” dimensions, the journey, exile, dreams, love, death, afterlife and ecstasy. Although I have a degree in fine art, I’m self-taught in my use of industrial equipment. When I designed a structure to suspend my glass paintings from 18 ft ceilings and glass companies said it was impossible to implement, I successfully implemented anyway with aircraft cable. When I couldn’t afford to rent a scaffold to suspend my large glass paintings, I built a 16ft Trojan horse wooden staircase with friends. I slept in the warehouse, creating and installing works until 3 and 4am. At the top of this staircase, I drilled holes in the ceiling and screwed in 104 hooks for 52 paintings. My artistic process follows a long period of development and maturation. The entire process is part of the creation. The actual experience of making the “art” is a visceral, spontaneous sensation. It is a realization in and of the moment. It is ecstatic, it is intuitive. A part of me, of the universe, of God, transfers to the work, so for days after, I am in a state of recovery.
The active nature of my work’s
implementation resembles Jackson
Pollock, with the dynamic and visceral
dance being uniquely my own, reflective of 17 years as a ballerina, jazz dancer and choreographer mixing styles as
diverse as African tribal to Argentinian
tango. I do not see a resemblance in the works themselves.
photo by Heather Talbert
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paintings, metal studs
Lost Souls They’re screaming, screaming Help me out
The door is locked I can’t get out
The sides have swollen Closing tighter
Inside, the lost soul that cannot hide Refrain
Change can happen You will see
Just be yourself Don’t follow me
Your road to happiness Is drawing near
Be ready now to shift your gear Stop screaming, screaming Help yourself
Use your mind
“Universal Truth: Superficial Separations”
Create a hole
No black, no white For purple moles
Forget your color Trump the tide Don’t stay in
Come on outside Refrain “Misinterpretation (Dio War)”
Don’t blame all else
Hold tight yourselves
The concrete poem depicts fighting
Help each other create
in the name of “God” or “Allah” or for
And stop the hate
whatever the belief system may be.
Your angels wait way deep inside “Dissection in Energy Fields”
oil, acrylic, metal scrap, silver dust and flecks on texturized (sanded/scraped) metal studs 3’2” X 1’ 8” 2007
They’re patient for you To find your high Refrain
“The Woman’s Quest”
The drip painting portrays women’s empowerment
through a revised myth of Jason and the Argonauts. The Woman is a mirror of the Dragon now
representing an Eastern
dragon, which symbolizes internal power (changed from the formerly slain dragon of the original myth).
In this story, Jason does
not slay the dragon, hence he also does not slay the spirit of the woman. In this story, there is an
ideal harmony among man, woman, animals & nature.
oil, acrylic, tar, gel, copper/gold powder, sand, seaweed, shells, tulle, on (sanded and scraped) metal studs 108” X 21.5” Painted with sea grass/sponges and rigging 2002-2009
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“Footsteps toward “home””
“Blue Angel saves the Lost Soul (the Devil)”
paintings 2d-3d-4d, metal sheets
oil, acrylic, pigment powder, poetry on metal sheets 8’ X 5’ Painted with sea grass 2001-2009
“The Truth About Adam and Eve” The concrete visual poem confronts a story that established many fundamental archetypes, which ultimately caused major reactions in modern psyches, including the feminist movement, zero population growth, animal rights, environmental defense, as well as groups wanting to reconcile science and faith.
Adam had dominion over Eve, and both had dominion over animals and food, thereby creating indefensible, polluted hierarchies.
Adam is veiled as a black snake, while Eve shields herself in a circle of protection. The poem invokes Eve to know Mother Nature and follow her instinct. They both walk through fire (the obstacles to employ each’s passion, society’s paradigms and peer pressures) and realize their sacred energy-bond to understand the “Tree of Life” is where all life is One.
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“Feminine Desire: The Conflict”
“Feminine Desire: Resolution” glass screen
oil, acrylic, sand, seaweed on recycled glass sheets, aircraft cable suspension system 7 pieces, each 4.75’ X 1.58’ Painted with sea grass, rigging, sea sponges to African, Brazilian and Middle Eastern drumming 2001-2009
Conflict and Resolution were painted together, and represent the process many women go through, often subconsciously, in reaction to childhood conditioning.
The Conflict painting is fraught with tension. Colors and movement represent emotions and influences. Surrendering, she walks through a sea of fire, and emerges as she returns “home” to don her true nature. In Resolution, women overcame conscious and subconscious arguments arising from the nature vs. nurture debate. She learned to live by her instinct, love herself, pursue the career of her dreams, as well as be open to allow true love to enter into her life. This is where romance, love, friendship and sex converge and last a lifetime.
paintings 2d-3d-4d, glass “Enlightened Breath : I embody Truth”
oil, acrylic, gold dust, sand on recycled thick glass sheets 10’ X 2.8’ Painted with feet and sea grass, rigging to percussion 2001-2009
“An Adventure : The World”
oil, acrylic, recycled glass sheets, 8’ X 4’ Painted w/sea grass, rigging, sea sponges 2007
photo by Diego Cappella
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“Ecstatic”
“My Gift” “The Dance”
“Enlightened Breath”
“Planetary Vision”
“Divine Intervention : The Shaman Arose”
photo by Diego Cappella
“The Playground”
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“The Vessel”
oil, acrylic, recycled glass sheets, aircraft cable suspension, aluminum channel. 4.75’ X 1.58’ Painted w/sea grass, rigging, sea sponges 2008
photo by Diego Cappella
“Joyful Bliss”
“The Whale Saves”
“Come, come whoever you are, Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi Jonah and the Whale, of Judaism and Christianity; Dhul-Nun, of Islam “Jonah fish” (in Turkish yunus baligi) is the word for dolphin
oil, acrylic on recycled glass sheets. 4.75’ X 4.5’ Painted with feet, sea grass, rigging, sea sponges 2008
“Scent of my splattered, bleeding Heart”
“Conception”
oil, acrylic, gold dust, recycled glass sheets, aircraft cable suspension, aluminum channel. 4’ X 4’ Painted w/ feet and sea grass 2008-9
“Shaman”
“The Chinese Dragon” A Chinese Dragon, or Lung, symbolizes
power and excellence, valiancy and
boldness, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity. A dragon overcomes obstacles until success is accomplished.
oil, acrylic, pigment powder, copper powder on glass. 4’ X 4’ Painted w/ feet while dancing to Indian music, dripping paint and blowing gold dust on rippled glass. 2007-2008
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“Always here, chooose me”
“Find Me”
sea plants, glass, resin 6’ X 6” 2008
“Blue Fly”
paintings, glass and sea plants
“Connection”
sea plants, glass, resin 4.5’ X 2.5’ 2008
sea plants, glass, resin 4.5’ X 3’ 2008
oil, acrylic, sand, seaweed, broken glass, deceased blue fly, recycled glass sheets, resin, aircraft cable suspension, aluminum channel 1.58’ X 1.58’ 2001-2009
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oil, acrylic, gel, pigment powder, sand, seaweed, shells, fabric, on canvas covered with thick resin, wood 6’ X 5’6” Painted with hands and fabric to music compilation 1998-2008
paintings, canvas
“The Phoenix” The painting represents facing and accepting yourself, as well as being authentic to your inner self. This Phoenix proclaims, “Do not follow me”, as puppets hang from her wing. She asks, “Where are you going?”, “Will you know me?”, “Will you love me?”, “Who are you?”, “Do you know?” The Phoenix symbolizes resurrection, immortality, triumph over adversity, and that which rises out of the ashes.
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My work with x-rays, MRIs, and body scans expresses my belief that suppressing creative passions, self-sabotage and negative emotions, as well as other transgressions hindering spiritual growth, manifest into physical and psychological disorders, and adversely affect how we interact with the outside world.
We pursue freedom and end up with a societal system of servitude defined by complex rules
We pursue happiness and it leads to resentment and unhappiness
“Gangs and the Cross” The series depicts stories from the inner city. One Xray is of a dead man, with a
bullet wound, wearing a cross. He wears a cross and was shot either in the
crossfire of gang violence or was an
active participant in the violence. If he was a participant, shows the hypocrisy
of wearing the cross and perhaps taking another person’s life in his lifetime.
What is the significance of wearing a cross and not living by the cross?
from “My heart gave way to my Mind” series
“Fear Lies in Here”
“Beliefs and Faith”
“Your Body is Your Church”
“Free Your Mind”
“Inner Music: The Core Beat” : Follow your core, your internal rhythm
paintings, X-ray poetry
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“Milonga”
“Tango”
“Mambo”
sculptures, Ecumenical Ecstasy My erotic sculpture series “Ecumenical Ecstasy” portrays the state of ultimate union of soulmates, a total union of body, mind and spirit. It is One unity of cosmic consciousness. The series exposes hieros gamos, where the two parts of one soul unite, thus accomplishing what they were at the beginning of time: a unity. In pagan and some religious texts, this is a sacred reunion in which God is present, represented by the wire that encircles the dancing lovers, the twin flames.
wire, metal, fabric, plaster, paint various sizes up to monumental public art 1993-2012
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oil, acrylic, Plexiglas, monofilament, wire 16’ X 9’ 2009
“The Praying Mantis”, which in Greek means
mobiles, The Praying Mantis
“prophet”, symbolizes the power of stillness and intuition.
As we learn to still the mind and go within,
we draw greater “knowing” so that when it’s time to act, it’s done with greater certitude, precision and power. In stillness, we open our minds to prophecy.
Do others know plans before they’re laid? Are opportunities missed from acting or speaking too hastily?
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Stop Blaming Can’t blame only those making They’re supplying what your buying Blame yourself for buying You’re the market they’re supplying Even though they’re lying What you need is what they’re tying Manipulation is the rule This is what they learned in school Not too different from guru, ayatollah or priest Understand how to coax you to join their feast They know brainwashing’s the answer But it’s you who follow all their banter
“Synergy of Dancing Boards”
They exploit you, as they will “Genetic Mutation 3”
But you allow them, they’re your pill You follow all the lies Buying into their disguise Consider what you’re doing See the hypothesis you are proving You know what you really need Stop fulfilling all their greed You have the power in your heart Now it’s time you start First we stop complaining Then we stop blaming It’s our responsibility to solve It’s time we all evolve
custom designed circuit boards, used industrial sand paper, sea plants, palm seeds and rope on glass 5’X1.8’ 2000-2011
Don’t play the game It’s all the same Now use your brain And stop the blame
sustainable collage, circuit boards and sea plants
Innovation will alleviate our impact on
nature if we are ethical and responsible. We have tremendous opportunities.
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installation,”Which door holds
poetry, oil, acrylic, gold/silver dust mahogany woods from demolition 8’ X 4 1/2’ and 10’ X 4 1/2’ 2008-9
your Truth?”
Stripping the Doors of Perception To begin your journey herein, you must erase all previous programming. You may not believe that you’re brainwashed, but you are. You have been conditioned and programmed with scientifically implanted “wisdom” proliferated into public consciousness. It is contrived - somebody paid for it. Your thoughts and attitudes are continually shaped by media, by propaganda, by PR firms. “The engineering of consent is the very essence of the democratic process, the freedom to persuade and suggest.” -- Edward Bernays, The Engineering of Consent Called the Father of Spin (and the PR industry), Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, used psychoanalytic theory to manufacture consent through propaganda. Goebbels (Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda) along with Riefenstahl (Hitler’s main filmmaker) used Bernays’ book for campaigns against Jews in Germany. “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” -- Bernays, Propaganda The PR industry thrives on mob psychology, intentionally chosing words for their emotional impact, knowing full well the mob is incapable of rational thought. PR is most effective when people are unaware they’re being manipulated. You are manipulated every time you turn on the radio or TV, read the newspaper, a magazine, hear a politician, celebrity-endorsement, or an “expert”/ pundit ... We’ve been led astray, lied to about what is healthy for our bodies, minds, and souls. We need to think anew, question our beliefs, their mechanics and origins. open our mind. open our eyes. open our hearts.
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installation,“Caged Fairies”
“Caged Fairies” The installation is an experiential human birdcage. At one end is an enclosed jail cell where spectators slip on traditional
black and white striped uniforms before they enter to read poems scratched on the interior walls.
The purpose is to draw attention to the convergence point between the cages
we create by or through our own fears, shortcomings and negative self-images that are reinforced by the prevailing social and educational systems.
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“Genetically Modified S4� The series invites dialogue on overdevelopment and nature’s adaptability, as well as our own.
The installations adapt to spaces, and vary from a sparse configuration to one completely filling all wall space and surrounding the viewers to
question why technology is becoming a central focus in our lives rather than freeing our time to spend with friends and loved ones.
installation, “Genetically Modified” “GMO Failures”
“Ultrasound Circuit Board” The series points to potential threats
to nature, humans (becoming slaves to machines or rendered obsolete), and
genetic modification of organisms, which may have dangerous consequences.
“No Room for Humans”
The ultrasound machine is a diagnostic imaging technique used for visualizing subcutaneous body structures.
The sonar detector uses sound waves with a frequency above the audible
range of human hearing, about 20 kHz to perform both diagnosis and therapeutic procedures.
“Suffocating Vegetation”
oil, acrylic, sand, sea plants, dried land plants, crushed shells, circuit boards from ultrasound machine 9 boards per work, each 6.5”X4” 2000-2010
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oil, acrylic, sand, seaweed, recycled glass sheets, aircraft cable suspension, aluminum channel, mahogany door, sheet metal. Painted with sea grass, rigging, and sea sponges 2001-2009
oil, acrylic, sand, seaweed, broken glass, deceased dragon fly, rope on recycled glass sheets, resin, aircraft cable suspension, aluminum channel 1.58’ X 1.58’ 2001-2009
installation, “The Dream”
Only I Somewhere in the deep depth I lost someone I should have kept I wondered where she’d been Hadn’t seen her since age 10 Innocence came to a head and searching replaced what I’d fed what I thought was true was recalled a shift occurred and appalled And finally I remembered her joys Only I could go inside with the toys And now I know I’ve found She’s there inside unbound And ready to dance and play And loves no matter what may Now together we will soar So I’m ready to throw open the door
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X-ray photography
My X-Ray photos are a continuing series about our perceptions of the outside world using the image of our internal organs as the filter for the image of the world in front of the camera.
The aim is to promote reflection, to realize the source of our decisions, actions and reactions to life. Through this exploration, we can learn to fully appreciate our personal experience and begin to heal. It continues the conversation and reflection on the Caged Fairy and X-Ray series.
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illustrated photography,“Charming Face of Pollution”
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LCD wall installation (array of 5X12 - 24� flatscreen monitors running at 1920X1200 that closely fill a wall space)
video installation, “The Suckers” “The Suckers” ~ praying on your emotions and feeding life-sucking energies • • • • • • • • • • • •
Row Row Row Row Row Row Row Row Row Row Row Row
1 marketplaces (HSN, QVC,...) 2 game shows 3 political talk shows 4 talk shows 5 commercials 6 caged animals 7 politicians holding babies 8 violence (bombing cities) 9 reality shows (by genre) 10 lotteries (across the world) 11 sitcoms (by genre) 12 news (international cities)
“The Suckers part 2” ~ feeding fear Spread across all screens for expansive impact and contains loops of violent
videos, video games, and visual graphics of “cities” burning, bombed, destroyed by man-made and natural disasters.
Actors walk around wearing gas masks, disease protective gear, etcetera.
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Marcy Gallery, Miami Design Dstrict
Fendi Gallery, Miami Design District
Marcy Gallery, Miami Design Dstrict
Driade Gallery, Miami Design District
Melin Gallery, Miami Design District photo by Diego Cappella
a
exhibitions (selected past)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2009 Art Basel Craig Robins Dacra | Design Miami Driade gallery Miami Design District 2009 Craig Robins Dacra | Design Miami Marcy Building gallery Miami Design District 2009 Craig Robins Dacra | Design Miami Melin Building gallery Miami Design District 2008 Art Rouge Gallery of International Contemporary Art Midtown Miami 2008 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions SELECTED GROUP SHOWS (prosthetic heart valve failing) 2011 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions Brickell Penthouse 2010 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions Star Island 2009 Art Basel Miami Beach Thomas Kramer private gallery exhibition Star Island 2009 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions Hibiscus Island 2009 Craig Robins’ Dacra | Design Miami Marcy Building gallery Miami Design District 2008 Fendi Design Studio Miami Design District 2008 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions Hibiscus Island, Brickell 2008 Art Rouge Gallery of International Contemporary Art Midtown Miami 2008 Verve Art Gallery Australia 2008 WMC interactive live painting show with Martin Solveig Miami Beach 2007 Art Basel Miami Beach private exhibitions 2007 Art Basel interactive live painting show with New World Symphony and Bélo 2007 Art Basel John Turchin private gallery exhibition Hibiscus Island 2007 Albertini Arts Wynwood Art District 2007 Green Ball ReThink and ReUse exhibition 2007 EdgeZones International Contemporary Art Wynwood Art District Miami 2007 ArtFlorida and Broward Art Guild exhibition 2006 Art Basel Miami Beach Bob Risse private exhibition 2006 Benefit Equality Florida fundraiser exhibition (2-year misdiagnosed illness resulting in emergency open-heart surgery) 2001 Starfish Gallery Los Angeles 2002 Silverlake Art Show Los Angeles 2002 Los Angeles Green Festival Los Angeles 2001 Earth Day Los Angeles 1993 Indiana University SoFA Gallery SELECTED PUBLICATIONS/PRESS · Carson Case ART “what you seek is always inside” 2012 · Getty ULAN · Saatchi Gallery 2008 · Florida International Magazine 2010 · WSJN TV 2010 · WKLAN 2010 · Austin Post 2010 · Austin Chronicle 2010 · Fashionably Austin 2010 · WSVN’s Deco Drive 2009 · Carson Art Digital Catalogue 2009 · NPR Cutting Edge series 2009 · NBC Morning Show 2009 · Melin Gallery Art Catalogue 2009 · CBS TV 2008 · South American TV 2008 · Miami Design District Magazine 2008 · Miami ArtZine Artist Spotlight 2008 · ArtInfo Gallery Guide 2008 · Art Rouge Gallery of International Art Catalogue 2008 · Art Rouge Blog 2008 · Turismo en Miami 2008
which door holds YOUR truth?
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Timeline and development of work Carson Case’s rare congenital heart condition, dance, travel and synesthetic experiences significantly affect both her process and the changing forms of her work. Carson’s interest is to develop organically, with no clear sense of time and limitless space. Her art subjects are often dancers, nudes, nature, horses and sailing ships. She always strives for stylistic and intellectual freedom, and finds formal education limiting. Carson Case’s early painting style is figurative and explores impressionism and surrealism, but after photographing dancers while experimenting with slow shutter speeds, she develops a rhythmic expression for her painting work. As a result, her painting work becomes more abstracted with hints of figurative elements. Her paintings reflect her sculptural work, and a synthesis has begun. Her style also begins to reflect her synesthetic experiences. Over the course of her career, Carson uses a variety of media that are quite unique to her body of work, such as glass and metal, circuit boards and x-rays. The works range from medium to large-scale works. Paintings are on sheet metal, metal studs and glass, reused from demolition sites. Paintings on glass are suspended from the ceiling, or displayed in handcrafted wood stands. Sculptures are often suspended, balanced, and are to be implemented on monumental scale in fountains, on grand lawns, and organically integrated in nature. Sculptures and paintings are designed for installation indoors and outdoors to interact with nature and architecture. Carson is an extremely intellectual artist in terms of her themes and perspectives, however when she works and begins to create pieces, she works with abandon, allowing abstract forms to flow freely. Some pieces are pure emotion. Others are observations and reflections. SIGNIFICANT DATES 1970 Carson Case was born with a rare congenital heart condition, which significantly affects both her process and the changing forms of her work. Her grandfather is a big band leader, grandmother is artistic, entrepreneurial and fashionable, great uncle a concert pianist and mathematician, father is the practical stability and mother a jazz pianist who enrolls her at an early age in dance, art and music classes although later encourages more practical pursuits and abilities, like math and science. 1977-8 Carson takes her first classes in charcoal and painting. She spends a significant part of her youth through young adulthood in ballet and jazz rehearsals, and studies with luminaries in the dance world. Born into a family of many musicians, she readily plays clarinet and piano, but focuses on dance. She begins to ride horses bareback on the canals in Arizona. These expressions are seen throughout her work. 1980 She loses her Grandfather, a significant figure in her life. She shuts down and disengages. Carson’s philosophical, global and political interests can be attributed to her grandfather and are prevalent in much of her work. She is accepted into the ballet company that Jean Allenby, a former Stuttgart Ballet internationally-renown Prima ballerina, forms in Evansville Indiana. Over the years, she trains with the Joffrey Ballet and Gus Giordano in Chicago, National Academy of the Arts in Champaign, The Edge and Dance Arts Academy in Los Angeles, Alvin Ailey workshops in Miami and LA, Merce Cunningham clinics in the Midwest and LA, and Campanhia de Danca Deborah Colker clinic in Miami. 1987 Carson rebelliously quits ballet (although reconvenes in college). She develops a decadent lifestyle. 1988 Carson attends the University of Miami, Oxford. She studies chemistry and calculus, and then enters the architecture program. She continues to sculpt. She explores the work of Antoni Gaudi and rides with the equestrian team. 1990 Carson becomes ill. She is forced to leave school to regain her health, and transfers to The Herron (now Hope) School of Fine Art at Indiana University to study sculpture with Jean-Paul Darriau (Guggenheim Museum, the Joseph Hirshhorn Collection in Washington D.C., the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Denver Art Museum, Galleria Schneider in Rome, and the Smithsonian Institute.). She photographs dancers with slow shutter. 1995 Her friend dies of a drug overdose. She is inconsolable. 1999 Carson moves to Los Angeles after traveling Europe for four months, and continues to develop her painting style, but is unsatisfied. Nudes in clay and metal sculptured dancers covered in fabric and plaster mâché are her preferred medium.
2000-2002 Carson begins having more powerful and unexplainable experiences that expose sensitivities to visual and tactile stimuli, both seen and unseen. She later recalls similar childhood experiences. The experiences transform her work. She has revelations with dancer photographs; her style is realized. She has a vivid dream of herself with red hair (her hair’s birth color that changes at age 2) in different centuries in time with one man she meets 3 days later, and another she meets 12 years later. 2001 She travels to Greece to sail and meet the family of her first great love. She sails to Amorgos, Donousa, Mikonos, and Santorini, which has a mind-opening archaeological dig with architecture similar to Frank Lloyd Wright (a place sited as the possible Atlantis) 2002 Carson experiences a long breakup with her first love, and becomes increasingly ill. She associates the emotional loss and her breaking heart with her physically breaking heart as a physical metaphor for loss. Explores many alternative medical treatments after being incorrectly diagnosed with depression and prescribed Prozac, which she refuses. She experiences increasingly frequent and dramatic supernatural occurrences with numbers, astral travel, time-warps, and other outer-body and internal progressions. She sees a Reiki Master from Hiroshima. During session, the top of her skull opens and a beam of light shoots out. She sees a Samurai warrior appear to kill himself. His eyes look like hers. 2003 Carson’s health deteriorates over 2 1/2 years of misdiagnosis. She has emergency open-heart surgery on July 3rd. Independence Day has a new meaning. Her surgeon tells her that she should not have made it to his operating table; that she must have God, Angels, Guardians or a strong will to live. He can’t explain it medically. 2004 Surgery leaves her unable to sculpt for over a year, so she enters an International MBA program to focus on Creativity Management. Carson moves to Vienna Austria and views Kunsthaus, Viennese and Austrian art and architecture. She attends the Royal Viennese Ball. She meets Africans daily and becomes enlightened to the often conservative and prejudiced Viennese. Carson frequents Sagya, an African-owned live music venue and is introduced to musicians from all over the African continent. Learns from local artists. She begins to combine paint and poetry on x-rays and MRIs. During the summer, she travels to Rome, learning techniques from artists, and Greece for a multi-week sailing trip through islands from Kos to Kalimnos, Chios, Patmos, Amorgos, Donousa, Naxos, Paros. She attends the Olympics and sees Bjork’s performance. 2005 Carson lives in Copenhagen. She learns from local artists and learns about Islam from traditional and modern perceptions of Turkish immigrants. Learns of the challenges for 2nd and 3rd generation Turkish immigrants in a homogenous, small country. She moves to Paris and becomes embroiled in the racial strife occurring between the French and the open entry of immigrants from formerly French colonies. 2007 Riots break out in Paris. She views overwhelming prejudice and hate. She is caught in a riot after watching a soccer game at a formal event. The French police refuse to escort her down Avenue Marceau, and she is attacked and dragged screaming down the street by 8 North African (called Mugrab by the French) teens, her dress ripped from her body, arms nearly torn from her body, necklace used to strangle her, and eyes wide open as mace is sprayed. She is shocked by the poor hospital conditions, realizing she might die there. She spots 2 of the 8 in police arrest photos – both arrested previously for similar behavior, but no one follows up. She is also stalked by a Frenchman and told by the police, that he must just love her. She realizes the ineffectiveness of the French police. She moves back to the United States. 2008/9 Carson develops the suspension systems after glass companies explain why her vision was not possible. She learns to install LEDs, to weld, pour resin, solder, and sew. 2009 Carson’s health deteriorates again, although she is unaware of the causes and initially associates with her heart condition. During this period, using similar techniques as her sculpting, she begins to sculpt for the body. The medium is a natural extension, an organic flow of draping, color and pattern sensibility enhancing the true work of art, the body. Many designs are sculptural and painted. 2010 She attends an ayawaska ceremony with a Dominican Shaman (who says he’s Peruvian). She has powerful kundalini that the shaman tries to stop during ceremony. She is covered in white light and held by an elder woman. She returns to age 3 and a voice says to not be afraid of losing breath, to just die and will awake later. The shaman attacks her energetically the next day. Her urine turns black. She asks her Mom what happened at age 3 and told she was standing next to the fireplace and had her first major tachycardia incident. She was white as a ghost and not breathing. She moves to Sedona to discover she has heavy metal toxicity due to exposure from her work. She visits the Hopi reservation and helps a Hopi Seer save fledgling eagles. He tells her she’s a Seer. 2011 She meets her second great love in September at the French cultural center. 2012 She moves to Brooklyn in January. In April, she becomes ill and in June learns that her tricuspid pig valve has deteriorated and is leaking. Authorities speculate the deterioration results from exposure to environmental toxins in her rented live/work warehouse. During this same time, she loses her second great love. She again associates the emotional loss, the breaking heart, with her physically breaking heart. She hopes to replace her valve soon. 55
what you seek is always inside
self portrait by Carson Case
Biography Last night, I arrive at my front door to find a gold sacred scarab lying lifeless. I scooped her up, brought her to my bedside, and fed her beetgreens. Somehow she revived and started crawling all over. I set her free, and because of the pouring rain put her inside the door so she could choose. She went into the underbelly of the building through a hole in the floor. (instantly in my mind...to protect me. Knowing nothing of sacred scarabs, I googled) Sacred Scarab beetles are a symbol of divine manifestation, growth and rebirth, effectiveness, and regeneration and creation conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection.
I’d been thinking about my vision...a new path for humanity...carving a new mythology. I come from a family of pioneers and entrepreneurial immigrants...musicians, butchers, mathematicians, teachers, engineers, artists...
I’m a dancer. 9 years ago, during a lift, the man began to lose balance and rather than let go so I could land on my feet, he held my feet. I had a premonition before the happening and thereafter in slow motion I fell backward in a beautifully arched dive. I could see the floor simultaneously through the back of my head as I gazed into his frightened eyes. I heard the screams of Astrid that my blood was in the shape of a cross on the floor, but all I could see was an encapsulated fusion of my surroundings and electrified voices echoing. I ate only seaweed for 3 days after. That was all I craved and all I could stomach. I never heard from the man again. He had said he was in love and had dedicated the song “Yellow” to me. My first love had been in charge of staying awake with me in case of concussion. He slept peacefully. I realized in these moments that he would never deeply love me; he would not go to the ends of the earth with me; he did not believe; it was not his time; hence, no hieros gamos. It took 9 years to get over him. 2 years ago, I ingested ayawaska. My insides filled with bright white light and I felt a woman holding me, protecting me. I experienced deep kundalini, while a shapeshifter walked the perimeter frustrated because he could not enter into my spiritual space. (He later attacked me.) I spent the early morning dancing with thousands upon thousands of dragonflies. A few weeks later while in a Hopi village in Arizona, through odd circumstance I met a Hopi seer. He knew what had happened before I opened my mouth. He told me I was a seer, but I wasn’t trusting what I was seeing., so I trust more and more. I then told him about my eagle feathers and buffalo teeth. I’d found a beautiful antique trunk online, and the gentleman selling offered to bring it the next day with his van. As he set the trunk on the lawn, he looked me in the eyes and said “I hope you don’t think I’m crazy, but I dreamt that I must give you these eagle feathers and buffalo teeth.” Of course, I said no. Days later, I had a dream. I awoke and made an elaborate necklace out of the buffalo teeth and I strung the feathers into a hairpiece that gently cascaded along my hair. The aforementioned shapeshifter stole my feathers...the revelation came as I simultaneously looked up to see a Native American man pass in front of me and look directly into my eyes. I ran after him but he’d disappeared. I once saw a Reiki Master from Hiroshima. She never touched me physically. The top of my head opened up and a powerful beam of white light flew through my body and out the top of my head. I saw a Samurai warrior. I see time in time-lapse much of the time. When in the midst of deep emotional and energetic connection with music, in dance, with the one, while creating, I become one with the music, one with the movement, one with the energy...and for me this is oneness with God, or as I prefer to call IT, the Omniscient Mind. God too often has been used an excuse for war, as an excuse for hate, as an excuse for superiority and power. This must change. 57
an education
LIFE FINE ART
1978-present · · · · · ·
Sculpture (many kinetic) for home and monumental Painting (2D and 3D) for inside and outside Rhythmic industrial art (paints while dancing) Concrete poetry (not the traditional concrete) Installation, collage, and mobiles Observation
DANCE
1973-present Accepted into professional ballet company that Ms. Allenby formed in Indiana Initially trained as a classical ballerina and jazz dancer, Carson explored
traditional and modern dances around the world, including: African Tribal, Afro-Cuban, Argentine Tango, Ballet, Ballroom, Capoeira, Cha Cha, East
Indian, Flamenco, Freeform, Irish folk, Jazz, Lambada, Line/Country 2-step, Mambo, Modern, Moroccan, traditional Native American dances, Rumba,
Trained with Field Experts engineering sculpture implementation, electrical LED installation, welding, resin, soldering, sewing, vocal, Philharmonic Chorus, improvisation, acting, directing, cinematography
Salsa, Samba, Swing, Viennese waltz, while sailing
Began choreographing at age 17 · Won first place national awards for Best Choreographed Dance at national dance competitions · Choreography mixes dance styles - dance, art performances, fashion shows
FASHION
2010-present Beginning as a sculptor of nudes in clay, and dancers in wire and fabric and plaster mâché, sculpting for the body was a natural extension. For Carson, it is an organic flow of draping, color and pattern sensibility, and the knowing of what will enhance the existing beauty of a woman, the true work of art.
Formal Education
Trained with Dance Luminaries · · · · · · · · ·
Stuttgart Ballet’s Prima ballerina Jean Allenby Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Gus Giordano Jazz, Chicago National Academy of the Arts, Champaign, IL The Edge, Los Angeles Dance Arts Academy, Los Angeles Alvin Ailey, partnering (Horton) Miami, LA Merce Cunningham clinics, Midwest, LA Campanhia de Danca Deborah Colker
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana Herron (Hope) School of Fine Arts
Major: Sculpture, Photography, Painting, Design
mentored by/worked for Jean-Paul Darriau, Sculpture Professor (Guggenheim Museum, Hirschorn Collection, Walker Art Center, Denver Art Museum, Galleria Schneider in Rome, Smithsonian Institute) College of Arts and Science
Major: West European Studies
Minors: German & independent studies in Brazilian & Japanese culture 1990-1993
University of Miami, Oxford, Ohio
Architecture, Structural Design, Sculpture, Drawing 1988-1990
59
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786.382.6688 cc@carsoncaseart.com www.carsoncaseart.com
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To hear with no sound...
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To see with closed eyes... To feel without touch… To smell without scent… To taste without flavor… To know the beyond...
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love My love is herein. My love for you. My love for the world. Perhaps in my small way I can contribute to healing, to transforming our world into a new reality. One based in love.