Carla Edwards

Brooklyn, NY

July 5 - 31, 2018

Recommended by Fountainhead Alumni, Melissa Brown

Artist Statement 

My current project examines how dominant culture, and artifacts shape our sense of identity and self. Through appropriation, I make material interventions that alter or deconstruct an original subject to be manipulated and reconfigured in a way that has changed its meaning. This gesture, often ritualistic in nature seeks to understand our complex relationship to symbols, and the often-humorous solace they inspire. I view this process of altering as a means of gaining current and tactile access to the symbols that surround me. Materiality and the notion of the hand or labor, is important in my work. Cultural identity and the political reside in what is made. A gesture of solace, a covetous object, a thing made with spiritual devotion or a fervent patriotism are the things I find most seductive and inspiring.

Carla Edwards (b. Illinois), lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She is an Alumna of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and was a studio fellow in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. Her work examines popular iconography and Americana vernacular in sculpture, performance, drawing, and video. Edwards’ has exhibited nationally and internationally most notably at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Artist Space, New York, Regina Rex, New York, Nuit Blanche, Toronto, Volta5, Basel Switzerland, The DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities, District of Colombia, Redline Arts, Denver, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, and Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens. She is a recipient of the Socrates Emerging Artist Fellowship and a current resident and recipient of the Smack Mellon Artist in Residence Fellowship.

Artist Links

http://smackmellon.org/index.php/contact/previous-studio-artists/carla-edwards/

https://artefuse.com/2017/02/15/interview-with-artist-carla-edwards-by-rachel-frank-124943/

https://www.thelighthouseworks.com/public-art-commission/  

Instagram:  @webegrammon