Caroline waite

British artist Caroline Waite received a degree in Fine Art from Cheltenham College of Art (UK) where she specialized in printmaking. In 2001, she relocated to the United States and has had numerous exhibitions throughout the country since then. She works in the field of mixed media sculpture, assemblage and installation. Waite is especially interested in the playful use of strange found objects, giving new life to them and imbuing them with a sense of mystery and intrigue.

STATEMENT

I grew up in a lovely English village called Cookham Dean, known for its famous and eccentric resident, wartime artist Stanley Spencer whose stylized scenes in the 1940s of Cookham village life and residents have hung in the nations leading museums. He described Cookham as a “village in Heaven”.

My parents, both artists, were also great collectors and childhood holidays were often spent searching for bits and pieces, usually on a chilly beach somewhere.

From a very early age I have collected things and arranged them. Now, more recently, I understand this as a need to give order to things, partly to make order out of chaos but also to show things to their full potential and to highlight subtle connections and differences. Hence, much of the work has a sense of formality and a strong structure even when it is playful.

This constant search for “stuff” which appeals (often for the most obscure reasons), is as much a part of the work process as are the thoughts instigated by the things I collect and then the physical construction of a work of art at the end.

I hope to highlight things which are often inherently humble, maybe discarded, rusted, distorted or faded but have had a past life and use somewhere else. I don’t analyze too deeply what the initial attraction is to this strange mix of collected objects. Things mean something for all sorts of reasons. They may simply be beautiful, quirky, sentimental or have strong associations.

I love the element of mystery surrounding old objects – the questions as to their meaning, their origin and age – in other words, their “secret lives”.

Despite a long standing attraction to the small scale, to the intimate, subtle and secret, I am finding new ways of exploring scale, and now expanding into installations using multiple small items to make a larger whole.

For the past several years, I have introduced fabricated steel in to my repetoire, using a bolder, more linear format and allowing for more sculptural, wall based work.

I hope to create a feeling of revelation within each piece, layers of meaning, subtle nuances and still a sense of fun and discovery - the same sense I feel when searching for and unearthing new objects

RESUME

Education

Winchester School Of Art – 1 Year Foundation Course

Cheltenham College Of Art – 3 Year Bachelor Of Arts

Degree In Fine Art Degree (Specializing In Printmaking)

Brighton Polytechnic – 1 Year Art Teaching Certificate

Teaching

1996 – 2000 Lecturer Foundation Course

Specializing In Visual Design And Textiles

Northbrook College, Sussex

1994 – 1996 Lecturer In Visual Studies And Jewellery Design – North East Wales University

Lecturer In Textiles And Graphic Design

Telford College, Shropshire

1988 – 1994 Lecturer In General Art And Design

Newbury College Of Further Education

1982 – 1988 School Teacher Art And Design

Edgbarrow Secondary School, Berkshire

Exhibitions - Selected U.K. Exhibitions

The Arts Workshop – Newbury – 1994 solo show

Open Eye Gallery – Edinburgh

The Kilvert Gallery – Hay-on-wye

The Gallery In Cork Street – London

Interiors Home Collection – Geneva

Ruthin Gallery – North Wales

Bothy Gallery – Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Medici Gallery – London

Chelsea International Craft Fair – London

Prima Vera – Cambridge

Barn Galleries – Henley On Thames

Paper Passions – London

Battersea Contemporary Art Fair – London

1996.  Contributed To A Book On The International Craft Of Papier Mache

Exhibitions - Selected USA exhibitions

Continental Loft Gallery – Dallas

Forty Five Ten – Dallas

Haggerty Gallery, University Of Dallas “Fragments”

Invited Show of 4 women collage artists.

Dallas Museum Of Art – Invited contribution to Beaux Arts Ball Auction.

2520 Gallery – Dallassolo show “Treasure”2003

Craighead Green Gallery – “New Texas Talent” 2004

2005

Rosalux Gallery – Minneapolis 2005 “Open Door”, International juried Exhibition

Touchstone Gallery – Washington D.C. “7th annual all media exhibition”

Galerie Hertz – solo show “Assemblages”

2006

Carr+Waite Studios, “Christmas Matchbox Show”

Chapman Friedman Gallery, “Pillows Talk”

International Museum of Collage, Cuernavaca, Mexico – “Bakers Dozen”

2007

Carr+Waite Studios, “Photo Biennial Louisville 2007”

Gallerie Zuger, Santa Fe NM, “Assistance Dogs of West Exhibition”

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, “Visons and Voices”

Elk Creek Vineyards Gallery, Owenton, KY, “Gone Fishing”

2008

Galerie Hertz, solo show “Curiouser and Curiouser – Interior Worlds”

Cressman Center, University of Lousiville, “ReSource”- Artists who use collecting to create or inspire their work

Chapman Friedman Gallery, “Jarring”

2009

Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, Colorado.  National Juried Show of Assemblage and Collage, ‘Imagination Navigation’

Group Show, Galerie Hertz

2010

Gallery Zipp, Glorietta, NM, ‘Clothesline Show’

Climate Gallery, Long Island, NY, ‘Re-fuse/Re-use’ , assemblage exhibition

2011

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, ‘Artist’s Collect’, installation

Galerie Hertz, ‘Triptych’, 3 woman, show

El Museo Cultural, Santa Fe NM, ‘Recycled Santa Fe Art Festival’, Juried Art Exhibit

Mill Fine Art, Canyon Rd. Santa Fe NM, ‘Small Works Group Show’ – juried show

A feature in the January 2011 Edition 8 of UPPERCASE Magazine.

2014

‘Short Stories’ – Installation, A mixed media wall piece comprising 41 individual, hanging assemblages to be hung at the Frazier Rehab Hospital, Louisville.

Public Gallery, Louisville Visual Arts Association

Artebella Invitational – Group Show of selected artists.

2015

Galerie Hertz – Louisville, KY – Collage and Assemblage, Group Show

Participation in the LVAA Open Studio Tour, November 2015

Currently working on an installation for KMAC (Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft) for inclusion in a Show for 2016.

2016

'Artists Select’, Cumberland Gallery- Nashville, TN- Saturday April 16th, 2016 -Saturday May 21, 2016.

‘Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter’, The Royal West England Academy, Bristol, United Kingdom.  Based on the work of author Angela Carter.  December 10th, 2016 – March 19th, 2017.

Two person show, Caroline Waite and Tom Pfannerstill – Galerie Hertz- November

2017

'New Arrivals', Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN - Saturday August 19th - Saturday September 16th, 2017.

Participation in the LVAA Open Studio Tour, November 2017

2018

Galerie Hertz,   Louisville, KY - "Animal Attributes and Peculiar Personas",  November/December

Cumberland Gallery,  Group exhibition of collaborative work, August 4 - Sept 8.   Collaborative partner - Catherine Cornelius

Fraizer Rehab Unit,   The successful installation of the found object installation "Small Stories" at the Fraizer Rehab Unit, Louisville.  This piece can be seen on the 8th floor, outside of the Children's Ward.  May 2018.  On this website under 'Installation' section.