Caro Burks
Duration: september-december 2022
Caro Burks is one of the resident artists for Fall 2022, and she will experiment both materially and conceptually as her studio practice enters a transitional phase. She has explored themes of material culture, decorative arts, religious culture and femininity in her past work, and currently pursues research that asks questions about value, morality and the function of religious symbolism, domesticity, and the complicated identity of womanhood.
Caro will develop these themes by creating narratives through personalizing and recreating familiar sentimental objects within larger scenes and still lives. The historical resources and religious history of New Harmony will give her additional resources to expand her knowledge about the themes that are integral to her work.
quick facts
How many years have you been working as a clay artist? I have been happily working as a clay artist since I finished my BFA in 2015, so six years now!
What is your main clay body that you currently use? I currently use a cone 04 red clay body, it’s a Linda Arbuckle recipe that I modified in graduate school.
What is the primary method you use for building your work? I typically coil build my larger forms, but I do a lot of solid modeling or sprig molding for my detail work.
What is your favorite studio tool? My exact-o knife or a good serrated rib. I also have a paddle made by a friend that is perfect for mid-sized vessels.
Do you have any future clay wishes or dreams? Too many to count, but my current wish would be to visit and have the opportunity to do historical research at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the U.K. I’ve used their online collections data base for historical information and inspiration since I was a teenager.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The content of my work comes from my upbringing in a declining mining community in Appalachia. I grew up fascinated by the pseudo-magical elements of post-industrial rural America. My curiosity about storytelling and escapism was formed growing up while attending religious services that gave people spiritual experiences and metaphysical encounters. From a young age this caused me to make connections between religious symbolism and the disappearing man-made landscape that dominates many southeastern small towns. Storytelling and religion used common techniques to talk about society, womanhood, and religious identity. In adulthood these stories lost their potency for me, but their influence gave me the language to tell stories of my own. I use decorative symbolism, references from regional works, and the visual culture from my surroundings to communicate stories about strange realities. Often rooted in femininity, the desire for escapism, and disappearing industrial communities, my stories blend fantasy and reality to challenge ideas surrounding virtuosity and truthfulness. The associations of craft and the Decorative in my work come from my research and exposure to Yard-Art, Folk-Art and the late 19th C. architecture that defined the excess of early industrialization. One of the few commonalities in these styles is a reliance on decorative symbolism and shared meaning. I use recognizable signs and visual culture to tell old stories in new ways, devoid of familiar moral conclusions or clear endings.
BIOGRAPHY
BORN: fayetteville, arkansas | USA
Caro Burks uses mixed-media sculpture and installation to explore themes of sentimentality, storytelling, and symbolism in decorative culture. Caro received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2015, held a post baccalaureate position at the University of Arkansas from 2015-2017, and received her MFA from Southern Illinois University in the Spring of 2020. In 2018, she was the recipient of the Windgate Foundation Graduate Research Award. Caro has been awarded residencies at Penland School of Crafts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center and is currently the long-term resident at the New Harmony Clay Project. She has participated in various national juried, group and solo exhibitions, and most recently, her solo exhibition BITTER AND SOUR opened at SHAG Space in Charlotte, NC, in 2021.