3 minute read
Artist Spotlight
BY KATIE BAUM
In this series, we highlight two of the many artists who contribute to the deep creative culture of Concord. Across town, many organizations are dedicated to uplifting the visual arts and artists through exhibitions, educational programs, performances, and workspace.
CAROLE RABE
For Carole Rabe, painting is a dialogue between the artist and the “spaces, shapes, colors, and light observed.” She finds inspiration in the interactions between interior environments and the exterior world, like light pouring through a window or reflecting on a wood floor. As the light shifts throughout the day and the seasons, Rabe’s subjects are ever changing. Rabe’s childhood making art, reading, and playing in the woods laid the path for her current art practice. As Rabe explains, “the storytelling, nature’s light, and the mark-making coalesced.” It makes sense, then, that Rabe’s subjects are personal. The time she spends getting to know the spaces she paints is essential to her process, and it is in these moments of close looking that Rabe discovers the tensions that inform her work.
Recently, though, Rabe has expanded her painting process to include working not only from direct observation, but also from sketches, photos, and her imagination. This shift has both “stimulated and confounded” her in the endless options it creates. Rabe lets the painting itself inform her as she works through this process, always focusing on what is most important as the full image forms.
See more of Rabe’s work in Chasing Color: Christiane Corcelle + Carole Rabe at Concord Art and at Carolerabe.com.
CHRISTIANE CORCELLE
“Remarkably,” says Christiane Corcelle, “the way I create my artwork mirrors how I live—a potpourri of diverse elements that may seem unrelated but come together harmoniously.” With Corcelle’s background in landscape architecture and printmaking, her passion for acrylic painting came about in an unconventional way. When Corcelle’s studio was forced to close in 2021 to make way for condominiums, she moved her art practice to the dining room of her home. It was here that her explorations changed into a “spontaneous and intuitive process that involves painting, collage, de-collage, scraping, sanding, and layering.”
“I remain curious,” says Corcelle of her inspiration. This curiosity has brought Corcelle across continents, collecting a broad array of influences along the way. Corcelle’s art has been shown globally, from Peru to Vietnam, and can be found in both private and public collections.
While her inspiration may be found outside of her studio—witnessing the beauty of everyday life and walking daily in the woods—Corcelle’s studio space is not to be overlooked. She describes her studio at the Umbrella Arts Center as a site of “controlled chaos” where she is free to fully embrace the spontaneity and energy of her process.
See more of Corcelle’s work in Chasing Color: Christiane Corcelle + Carole Rabe at Concord Art and at Christiane-corcelle-arts.com.
Beginning February 22, Concord Art presents Chasing Color: Christiane Corcelle + Carole Rabe in its Members Gallery. The exhibition will be on view through March 22.
Katie Baum is an intern at Concord Art. Baum is an artist and student at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. Learn more about internship opportunities at Concordart.org.
