2021 "FOCUS ON YOUTH":
FEATURED EMERGING ARTIST
Proud Sponsors of Focus on Youth 2021
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Fine Artist:
Caroline Gates
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Photo Credit: Jeffrey Wood
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Caroline Gates is an emerging artist fascinated by the play of light across a room, a pillow or a hand. Using both soft pastels and oil paint, she seeks to capture a sense of quiet revelation in illuminated space. She depicts intimate places, exploring how the secret worlds we create for ourselves reveal our individual senses of reality.
Caroline grew up in the rural woods of South Carolina, surrounded by deer and foxes and encouraged to use her imagination as neighbors were not to be found. She then pursued her bachelor’s degrees in studio art and creative writing at Asbury University in equally-as-rural Wilmore, Kentucky. During this time, she studied in both Uppsala, Sweden and Paris, France, where she realized that she longed to live in a city. Following graduation from Asbury, she moved to New York City, excited by its museums, artistic opportunities and diverse population. She received her MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art. Caroline continues to live and work in New York City, pursuing her future career in the arts. |
At Night II
Pastel on Paper - 30 X 40 inches © Caroline Gates |
At Night III
Pastel on Canvas - 36 X 48 inches © Caroline Gates |
Caroline discusses her technique, the people and places she draws inspiration from, and the artists she admires.
What do you appreciate about working with pastels? Have you combined other mediums with pastel?
I like to say that I never made it past finger painting. I feel my way through a work, pushing pigments around with my fingers, the side of my hand, or sometimes my entire arm. The pastels allow me to work this way with an immediacy and a pureness of pigment that I have not achieved with other mediums. Pastel retains a sense of energy which surprises and excites me every time I see a piece. I am also seduced by the impermanence of pastel. I find it extremely freeing to realize how quickly a piece can and will change - with just the brush of my hand across the surface, the whole image can change.
I have completed a few works with an acrylic or oil underpainting that I then layered with pastel on top. I appreciate how this creates varied marks and increases a sense of life and light. I often create pastel studies before creating an oil painting - this allows me to work out the composition and the colors quickly so that I have a game plan for the painting.
What do you appreciate about working with pastels? Have you combined other mediums with pastel?
I like to say that I never made it past finger painting. I feel my way through a work, pushing pigments around with my fingers, the side of my hand, or sometimes my entire arm. The pastels allow me to work this way with an immediacy and a pureness of pigment that I have not achieved with other mediums. Pastel retains a sense of energy which surprises and excites me every time I see a piece. I am also seduced by the impermanence of pastel. I find it extremely freeing to realize how quickly a piece can and will change - with just the brush of my hand across the surface, the whole image can change.
I have completed a few works with an acrylic or oil underpainting that I then layered with pastel on top. I appreciate how this creates varied marks and increases a sense of life and light. I often create pastel studies before creating an oil painting - this allows me to work out the composition and the colors quickly so that I have a game plan for the painting.
At Night I
Pastel on Paper - 18 X 24 inches © Caroline Gates |
His Hand
Pastel on Canvas - 30 X 36 inches © Caroline Gates |
What are some techniques you use to provide texture in your work?
I like to work on a very textured surface which allows me to build many layers. I often start on a cheap, cotton duck canvas primed with layers of thick, rough gesso [a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these]. I then work into it with a variety of tools depending on the texture I’m looking for: pastel sticks, brushes (both the bristle sides and the ends), kneaded erasers, water from a spray bottle, and, most frequently, my hands. I sometimes end up taking layers of skin off my fingers when I work, but the texture is worth it.
What are some of the inspirations that have driven your work up to this point?
I know most of us had a lot of time in a single space over the past year or so. During that time, I found my apartment inspiring as I watched the sun spill across my bedspread and wall. I love to create stories and metaphors with my work, to ascribe feelings to the surrounding environment (“pathetic fallacy”). I wondered what my space might say about me and how the lighting or the mood affected the meaning. These thoughts influenced the subject of my work.
I believe in always working no matter what the situation, and I am inspired by people who work hard and encourage others to do so. While painting, I like to listen to memoirs of those who have experienced success - everyone from John Singer Sargent to Billy Crystal. And I often re-read Art and Fear by Annie Dillard, which investigates the life of an artist and artmaking. Thankfully, I am also surrounded by amazing, hardworking professionals who inspire me every day, specifically my family and my community of fellow artists.
I like to work on a very textured surface which allows me to build many layers. I often start on a cheap, cotton duck canvas primed with layers of thick, rough gesso [a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these]. I then work into it with a variety of tools depending on the texture I’m looking for: pastel sticks, brushes (both the bristle sides and the ends), kneaded erasers, water from a spray bottle, and, most frequently, my hands. I sometimes end up taking layers of skin off my fingers when I work, but the texture is worth it.
What are some of the inspirations that have driven your work up to this point?
I know most of us had a lot of time in a single space over the past year or so. During that time, I found my apartment inspiring as I watched the sun spill across my bedspread and wall. I love to create stories and metaphors with my work, to ascribe feelings to the surrounding environment (“pathetic fallacy”). I wondered what my space might say about me and how the lighting or the mood affected the meaning. These thoughts influenced the subject of my work.
I believe in always working no matter what the situation, and I am inspired by people who work hard and encourage others to do so. While painting, I like to listen to memoirs of those who have experienced success - everyone from John Singer Sargent to Billy Crystal. And I often re-read Art and Fear by Annie Dillard, which investigates the life of an artist and artmaking. Thankfully, I am also surrounded by amazing, hardworking professionals who inspire me every day, specifically my family and my community of fellow artists.
Emma
Pastel on Linen - 20 X 20 inches © Caroline Gates |
At Night IV
Pastel on Canvas - 48 X 60 inches © Caroline Gates |
What artist(s) do you admire? Who has inspired your work the most?
There are so many to choose from! Of course, I am a great lover of Degas. Even before I seriously took up pastels, I made a weekly pilgrimage to the Met to spend time with his dancers. I am also greatly inspired by Edvard Munch who created psychologically-charged space with unexpected color and bold strokes. I admire the processes of both of these artists, especially their dedication to working out a single subject with study after study, work after work.
There are so many to choose from! Of course, I am a great lover of Degas. Even before I seriously took up pastels, I made a weekly pilgrimage to the Met to spend time with his dancers. I am also greatly inspired by Edvard Munch who created psychologically-charged space with unexpected color and bold strokes. I admire the processes of both of these artists, especially their dedication to working out a single subject with study after study, work after work.
Nightmare II
Pastel on Canvas - 36 X 48 inches © Caroline Gates |
Nightlight
Pastel on Canvas - 24 X 30 inches © Caroline Gates |
Any future plans you'd like to share?
For now, I plan on staying in New York City and painting as much as I can. Someday, I’d like to move to Sweden, but until then, I’ll be here in New York.
For now, I plan on staying in New York City and painting as much as I can. Someday, I’d like to move to Sweden, but until then, I’ll be here in New York.
Follow Caroline on:
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