Andrea Carlson: Artist Voice/Artist Choice

Artist Voice/Artist Choice is a program where Minnesota artists use ArtsConnectEd.org to connect their own work with the collections and resources of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Walker Art Center.

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My interest in objects relates to their stories and how objects are used as surrogates for cultural exchange. The objects and texts represented in my work are displayed hovering like holy icons, centered on the page. As these objects float above the seashore, the shore rises up, itself fluid, all-consuming and assimilating as the earth takes back and buries it's histories.

By citing pieces from the museum's collection in my artwork, I appropriate those objects by drawing them into imagined landscapes. The museum is a landscape in it's own right, fostering and assimilating objects foreign to itself. The idea of cannibalism, or cultural cannibalism, is referenced in my work as a metaphor for the assimilation and consumption of cultural identity.

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Andrea Carlson (b. 1979) lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2003 she earned a BA from the University of Minnesota and an MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2005. She has gained support through fellowships including the Minnesota State Arts Board (2006) and McKnight Artists Fellowship (2007-08) and exhibits widely. Carlson's work is represented by Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis.

http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=69185

Truthiness (2007)

I've always been facinated with objects of a political nature that are produced in countries far removed from the politic of the object, such as American flags mass produced in China. The 'Plate with scene of Fort Snelling' was produced in Germany. It is referenced in the painting 'Truthiness' as a fantasy landscape within a landscape.

The Poison that is it's Own Cure (2007)

Clock, Jean-Antoine Lepine ; Joseph Coteau

This astronomical mantel timepiece was drawn in to the painting 'The Poison that is it's Own Cure' and was on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program in an exhibition entitled 'New Skins' in 2007. Objects in foreign landscapes are a feature of many of my pieces that metaphorically reference the museum itself as a foreign or mythic landscape that objects inhabit.

Waagidijiid (2007)

Stoup (holy water basin), Giovanni Giardini da Forli

Although slightly altered, this holy water stoup from the 18th century makes an appearence in the painting/drawing 'Waagidijiid' (2007). Many of my paintings utilize many mediums on paper, from oil and gauache paint to graphite and colored pencil. In this painting, the stoup is rendered in pencil while the surrounding imagery is painted in oil, acrylic and gauache.

End of the Trail (2007)

Jade Mountain Illustrating the Gathering of Scholars at the Lanting Pavillion, Unknown

This jade mountain is a prized carving in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts collection. Many objects collect narratives over the years. Often these narratives have nothing to do with the original intent of the artist and may be entirely foreign to the culture the object came from. The jade mountain has also accumulated stories of it's collectors, such as it's use as a center piece and gifted to the MIA's collection. These stories come and go, stick with the objects or fade away. The carving is used in the painting 'End of the Trail' because of these stories, to illustrate objects as carriers of associations and stories.