Julia Carpenter

Life, Loss, Death and Cadmium Red

My paintings and drawings are my kinetic meditations on nature, tenacious life and the non-negotiable finality of death.

The human and animal portraits come from a place within angst, empathy, and awe. Perhaps this preoccupation came from a pivotal event as a young child, the discovery of a fallen baby bird just out of its egg. This is my first memory of real heart-wrenching anguish borne from a sense of powerlessness in the face of death. That has stayed with me since, while I worked under the spell of grief at the sudden deaths of my sister, and more recently my young nephew. I paint to answer my question; how can something so tenacious as life leave? The grief, always present, colors my lens, and has broadened into strong feelings on the struggles of nature from humankind’s incessant need for development and thus destruction.

I choose oil paint, as well as rich, messy charcoal for my work. The expressive possibilities of this ancient media, it’s history, and natural origins are important to me and allow me to speak through my art.

Preliminary studies and gestural drawings are done in a variety of media and then, once satisfied, I apply, remove, scratch and carve into the oil paint until the person or animal reflects the obsession I have for them and their lives. The push and pull between realistic appearance compared to the unfettered and raw physical characteristics of paint is a key ingredient for me to express the difficulty of life for the timorous beasties as well as my awe at their mere existence!

To purchase one of these pieces, please email us at geneva@gallerystrega.com.