Carina Earl
Everything I create explores the existence of conscious life in the vastness of the universe. I’m interested in building surreal worlds that explore relationships of contrast: the known and the unknown, light and dark, life and the void. Most of my ideas come from a psychological precipice that occurs in deep meditation, akin to the moment between wakefulness and sleep. In this hypnagogic state, imagery appears to me as if a projector is casting images on the nearest surface and these images often make their way into my paintings. Although I develop the design and concept behind each piece before I begin, things do change as I engineer a new world. I layer colors to shape the composition, blocking out the larger areas, and working up to the smallest details. Like slowly bringing a dream into a physical state, the solid elements emerge as I superimpose forms and details. The worlds I build are organic and fantastical, with sinuous brush strokes, sharp edges, and saturated colors depicting moss, clouds, galaxies, and plant/animal hybrids. In creating these alternate realities, I hope to inspire new perspectives to examine the role of humans as living organisms among many, the impact our existence has in shaping the universe, and the importance of exploring and understanding our own consciousness. Bio Carina Earl is a Raleigh-based artist who creates colorful dreamscapes in oil paint. Her work centers around bio futuristic worlds that explore themes of consciousness and evolution. She earned her BFA from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California. She has exhibited across the United States with Stanford University and 311 Gallery in Raleigh, NC and produced a mural for Philadelphia Mural Arts. Earl’s paintings have been featured internationally with Toronto Visionary Arts Gallery, Leoni Arts Project Portugal, and Goddess Arts Magazine in Germany.
