Tangles are a series of paintings and drawings. They consist of masses of people, layered and intersecting, in differing scales, some receding, others popping out to the forefront. Upon closer inspection, the people are actually celebrities tangled together, some instantly recognizable, others less so.
I restrict the palette as a tool for the viewer, to help untangle and eventually reveal some complete portraits. The viewer’s proximity to the work creates different effects. Up close, it’s possible to differentiate individuals, but at a distance they appear almost to dissolve into abstract expressionism. The organic lines beg to be followed, but form an impossible maze; when combined with the ambiguous positive and negative space, a tension forms that is both chaotic and compelling.
This tension parallels how my mind feels after watching Entertainment Tonight, The Insider and Access Hollywood all in one night or reading tabloids cover to cover. My brain is awash with the fabulous and minute details of celebrities’ lives. With no chance of interaction, I’m left to judge people I don’t really know at all: intrigued by some, disgusted by others, alternating between pangs of superiority and jealousy. By reducing celebrities to only lines, grouping them with many others, decreasing their size and eliminating color and many details, their star power is deflated, making them very one dimensional representations of people. The viewer is forced to question who they are; recognizing even one essentially implicates them in the same cult of celebrity so many frown upon.
This body of work investigates the intersection between the public and private persona, identity and ultimately questions the nature of celebrity.
Carrie Rose – ‘”Tangles”
About
Tangles are a series of paintings and drawings. They consist of masses of people, layered and intersecting, in differing scales, some receding, others popping out to the forefront. Upon closer inspection, the people are actually celebrities tangled together, some instantly recognizable, others less so.
I restrict the palette as a tool for the viewer, to help untangle and eventually reveal some complete portraits. The viewer’s proximity to the work creates different effects. Up close, it’s possible to differentiate individuals, but at a distance they appear almost to dissolve into abstract expressionism. The organic lines beg to be followed, but form an impossible maze; when combined with the ambiguous positive and negative space, a tension forms that is both chaotic and compelling.
This tension parallels how my mind feels after watching Entertainment Tonight, The Insider and Access Hollywood all in one night or reading tabloids cover to cover. My brain is awash with the fabulous and minute details of celebrities’ lives. With no chance of interaction, I’m left to judge people I don’t really know at all: intrigued by some, disgusted by others, alternating between pangs of superiority and jealousy. By reducing celebrities to only lines, grouping them with many others, decreasing their size and eliminating color and many details, their star power is deflated, making them very one dimensional representations of people. The viewer is forced to question who they are; recognizing even one essentially implicates them in the same cult of celebrity so many frown upon.
This body of work investigates the intersection between the public and private persona, identity and ultimately questions the nature of celebrity.
Paintings and Drawings