The rational and the intuitive are connected in my work. Personal translations of fleeting moments of reality are combined with shapes and colors of the indescribable taken from my imagination. Each individual painting is connected to feelings associated with experience, memory, and desire. They are unplanned, but through the process of their creation, forms and shapes are revealed, and if successful, form a unified whole. By weaving colors, patterns, and textures together, I feel as if I am instrumental in a healing, unifying process, not only for myself, but also for those who experience the work.
Working serially, there are several motifs that are repeated. These motifs serve as the foundation for the work and enable the painting’s “architecture” to adhere and activate the work’s surface. The coupling of grids, both painted and applied, serve as an example of this and also derive from the personal. The black-and-white linoleum tile floor in the kitchen and dining room of my Italian grandparents’ sugar cane plantation in Louisiana created a sense of order in contrast to the chaos of the large family dinners, abundance of food, and loud conversations that took place. The grid of the needlepoint canvas that is sutured into the painting, is an homage to my Emergency Room physician husband, who died too young, and an acknowledgement of the historic antecedents of women who expressed their creativity through craft needlepoint and quilts, and not with paint. As a woman of the baby boom generation, I had my own struggles to define myself as a professional artist. Through tragedy and loss, I was thrust into expressing strong emotions and ideas uniquely with paint, color, textures, collaged papers and the use of my handicraft, needlepoint.
The patterns and topographies created by mark making with paint are in synchronicity with the textural surfaces of the other materials. Together, they form panoply of architectural details, Mardi Gras costumes, and the rhythms of music tied to memories of New Orleans, and art, people and places of my travels. Wrought iron, latticework with sweet smelling vines, and the arabesque movements in the French and Italian lace seep from my subconscious and into the work.
'Calas Fons', gesso, flashe, paper, embroidery, hand-made needlepoint, marble dust and gloss medium on canvas, 48 x 35 inches.
THE MENORCA SERIES
'Mahon', gesso, flashe, paper, embroidery, hand-made needlepoint, marble dust, and modeling paste on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
THE MOTHER LODE SERIES
'Lavanda e Miele', clay pigment, gesso, handmade needlepoint, thread, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
'Ora di Cena', clay pigment, gesso, handmade needlepoint, thread, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
THE SOMETHING TRIBAL SERIES
'The Glimmer Twins', acrylic, gold paint, and resin on canvas, 48 x 78 inches
'Platinum Blonde', acrylic, paper, netting, resin on canvas, 36 x 36 inches
Andrée B. Carter was born and raised in New Orleans. She has lived in Seattle and Los Angeles, and now resides in Palm Desert. Andrée’s love of color and texture is evident in the way she treats the surfaces of her work. Andrée’s process combines two key elements—many, many layers of paint plus her signature use of handmade needlepoint. By stitching onto the surface, cutting holes into the canvas, and/or using collage, she creates a history embedded into the paintings. Paper, fabric, thread, textiles, and other media, all combine to add depth to the physicality of her work.
Andrée received an MFA from The University of New Orleans and BS from Loyola University in New Orleans (Cum Laude). She also studied art history in Florence, Italy through a Tulane University summer program.
In addition to numerous solo and group exhibitions, Andrée has also been honored with painting fellowships from the Bau Institute held in Otranto, Italy; the Virginia Center for Creative Arts; and the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.
Andrée has received several accolades, including the Artistic Selection Award from the Korean Cultural Center; and the Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA where her work received 2nd Place two years in a row. Andrée’s work is included in numerous private and public collections, most notably in the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; Swedish Hospital, Seattle, WA; and the Iberia Bank, New Orleans and Shreveport, LA
Her most recent exhibition is at Anne Bedrick Fine Art, Cathedral City, CA where she is the visiting artist from April 2-May 1 2021. Her next solo exhibition is in September 2021 at Los Angeles Art Association in Los Angeles.
Andrée is a member of Women Painters West, TextileartsLA, Los Angeles Art Association, and Women’s Caucus for the Arts, California Chapter.
Website: www.andreecarter.com
Email: abstractabc@gmail.com
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