Caitlin Carcerano is a figurative, illustrative oil painter and risograph printmaker. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, she graduated from the University of New Mexico summa cum laude in 2017 with a BFA in Art Studio, Painting and Drawing. Caitlin continues to live and work in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she maintains a studio at the Harwood Art Center. Her work has been shown at 516 Arts, the Harwood Art Center, and AC2 Gallery in Albuquerque, Strata Gallery and Hecho Gallery in Santa Fe, and published in Southwest Contemporary.
My paintings and risograph prints, while not necessarily self-portraits, are semi-autobiographic visual examinations of and reflections on my experiences. My current body of work explores memory, reflection, self-forgiveness, and self-compassion. The figures in my work, representing my past and present self, touch and interact, melting in and out of each other. The figures can be amorphous, and it can be hard to discern where one figure starts and the other ends. Sometimes, the figures are akin to children hiding in a blanket fort, telling stories about the past and sharing their hopes for the future. I utilize repeating figures to represent memory, the different versions of oneself, and the potential for growth and change.
Each of my pieces exist as moments in time that are part of a larger narrative, like panels in a comic. I seek to imbue still images with a sense of action, as if they are moments in an overarching story. The softness of the human body is critical to my work; in addition to making art, I am also a competitive powerlifter. The veneration of my body in the gym and the representation of the body in my work is not dissimilar. In my risographs, the repeating arch-shape echoes stained glass church windows, furthering the veneration and respect I aim to pay the body in my work. My work also embraces the visual language and bright color palette of graphic novels and vintage commercial illustration. I have an inherent interest in bridging the gap between traditional painting techniques and the colors and styles seen in popular forms of visual media. Risograph printing, with its combined digital and analogue process and inherently retro spectrum of inks, has allowed me to further explore this visual language and pay homage to forms of art that can be considered “less than” or “low brow.” |
Education
University of New Mexico, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Summa Cum Laude, 2017 Juried Exhibitions 2024, Riso!, Hecho Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2024, Inner Sanctuaries, Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2024, PINK!, NOT REAL ART, Virtual 2024, Selfhood, Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2023, Prelude, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM 2018, Debtfair, 516 Arts, Albuquerque NM 2018, Surface: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque NM Solo Exhibitions 2021, The Ties That Bind, Encompass at the Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM 2020, Take it as it Comes, Zendo Coffee, Albuquerque, NM 2017, This Must Be My Dream, Arts Unexpected Centennial Exhibitions, Albuquerque, NM Group and Two-Person Exhibitions 2024, Fun-a-Day, 1415 Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2023, Fun-a-Day, 1415 Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2022, Holiday Show, Zendo Coffee, Albuquerque, NM 2022, Honors College Alumni Show, UNM Honors College, Albuquerque, NM 2022, Splish Splash, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM 2022, Growing Pains, La Chancla, Albuquerque, NM 2022, Fun-a-Day, 1415 Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2019, Fun-a-Day, Graft Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2019, I Don't Have a Type, AC2 Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2018, Fun-a-Day, Graft Gallery, Albuquerque, NM Publications You’ll Find Painter-Printmaker Caitlin Carcerano in the BathtubStudio Visit with Caitlin Carcerano, Harwood Art Center Blog, Spring 2021 Southwest Contemporary, Bodies//Boundaries, Spring 2021 Awards 2018 Surface: Emerging Artists of New Mexico Participant 2017 Reggie Behl Memorial Drawing Award, University of New Mexico |