Caroline Corey Gladney - Artist

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I am primarily a figurative painter, and often use the notion of transparency to help convey the inner essence of the subject. This exploration has compelled me to look at fragments: fragments of narrative and fragments of images. The images can be seen as one sees a damaged fresco, perhaps mourning the lost pieces while simultaneously allowing the viewer to complete the picture. My paintings are about hope and the yearning for connectedness; yet also reflect my investigation of the human experience and the raging of the mind at our intrinsic separateness.

I am always probing the inclusive conditions of togetherness and existential angst- the fragmentation of experience. Patience, perseverance, pain, and humor are all a part of my life and my work.

ABOUT

Caroline Corey Gladney earned her MFA in painting and drawing from Louisiana State University in 1992 and her BSE from the University of Arkansas in 1987. She shows her work primarily in galleries in Louisiana and Arkansas, and has participated in many national juried shows. According to the artist, her paintings are attempting to convey a person's inner feelings by refining and closing in on details to show the sitter's inner self/feelings/ psychology through their poses; as in her portraits, or in a simple yet iconographic gesture of their hands.

Ms Corey's paintings have a certain tension that unveils beauty whether the piece is meant to convey the emotion of angst, hatred, or hope. Often an inner beauty will impart a feeling of courage to the piece. Ms Corey is also emphatic/ adamant about trying to show beauty. She says: “Courage and hope are always there. They are an integral part of humanity that she sees in the human spirit, and show in the images she paints.”

However, according to Corey, trying to convey beauty in a painting is not always the easy way out. In fact, beauty is difficult to paint in a way that is fresh and moving, as we viewers are the victims of a barrage of thousands of visual images every day. Often these images are produced by very talented designers. The message, however, is not necessarily beautiful. It is usually a sales pitch that says: “Buy me and you will feel good about yourself; instead of seeing yourself and others as you are; beautiful as they are, even while passing thru the hard times that life throws at us. Even when…. growing (pause) OLD. (grin)”

Michael Crespo, director of the School of Art at LSU describes her work as "handsome, mysterious paintings [which] are the products of sustained attention to, knowledge of, and practice in the plastic fundamentals, merged with a sincere and succinct sense of self and surroundings. "

Andrei Codrescu, noted Romanian NPR poet and professor of English, says, "All of her work is informed by a restless and inquiring sensibility which translates also in her conversation and her teaching."

Judith Boyce

WBR Libraries