We were lucky to catch up with Carolyn Mason recently and have shared our conversation below.
Carolyn, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Curiosity and experimentation are key to my artistic practice. I keep an eye out for organic shapes as well as new materials wherever they may be. For example, I find satisfaction in foraging for materials in hardware stores, seeing the range of their potential, and subverting their intended use.
In addition, inspiration comes from the marvels of biological life both aesthetically and metaphorically: patterns of flowers, vines, and fungus; the magic and regeneration of underwater plants; and the mesmerizing serpentine movement of snakes are continually inspiring to me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a visual artist with a studio in downtown LA working in sculpture, fiber art and performance.
I see my studio practice as a laboratory where I experiment with materials that have personal history and are significant to me because of their origins. The outcome is sculpture, or performance that is documented in video and photography.
I have a natural affinity for textiles and they regularly show up in my work, particularly wool. My mother was born on a Colorado sheep ranch, as was her mother. I grew up in a house full of weaving and craft projects with wool often spread throughout the house. My father managed a textile factory and was always tinkering with machines and building things in our garage. These legacies show up in my work through my explorations of the world through texture.
Pinecones are another material I use – they go back to my suburban childhood when I collected them during summer vacations in the Sierra Nevada mountains. They act as symbols of the wildness and the unpredictability of the forest that I longed for. Adopting natural forms and interacting with materials that hold personal meaning are expressions of curiosity, reverence, and longing.
I feel fortunate to be a member of the artist collective Durden and Ray, which is committed to fostering artistic exchange with international partners. As part of this, I’m co-curating an exhibition with OJO Versalles gallery in Mexico City titled “Alternative Monuments / Monumentos Alternativos” which will open on April 27, 2024, at the Durden and Ray gallery in LA and then in Mexico City during the following month.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Staying Open – Keeping your eyes open for unusual materials, anything has the potential to become art.
2. Create Community – Hang out with other artists, create community in whatever way works for you. It’s important to not only share your own work, but support other artists. For me, one way I’ve created community is to curate exhibitions. For example, I organized a show at the Torrance Art Museum where the artists approached their work with the intention of embodying the nature of mycelium, the expansive underground patterns of mushrooms. The artists collaborated, shared materials, and found inspiration from one another’s projects.
3. Stay True To Your Artistic Vision – For a time I stopped making art and when I returned, I committed to only making work for myself. I let go of what other people might like and focused on what brought me satisfaction as an artist.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’d be interested in collaborating with creatives in other disciplines such as theater and dance. I would be also interested in working with artists/curators in other countries with the goal of facilitating artistic exchange, similar to the collaboration I’m currently doing with an artist-run gallery in Mexico City.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carolynmason.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolynmasonart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-mason-96447aab/
- Other: https://www.durdenandray.com/
Image Credits
Moe Wakai; Robert Wedemeyer; Tufenkian Fine Art
