"When I paint it feels like playing Jazz. It’s a language. A conversation. Sometimes whispered, sometimes loud and boisterous but always full of layers. These layers come from improvisations, influenced by what I see in the world around me, or a current obsession I have, or the mood I’m wanting to conjure. I use conscious interior design themes and colours but these are always expressed with complete spontaneity. There’s a newness in each improvised layer that can only come from where I’m at, in that moment. Painting feels like an extended jazz solo. But where live performance is fleeting in nature, a painting will last, hopefully forever."
CARITA is an artist living On the land of the boon warring people in Melbourne, AustraliA.
Her work is a cocktail of contemporary modern expressionism mixed with edible colour palettes and a strong signature graphic twist.
LATEST NEWS
2021
finalist
art lovers
australia
PRIZE
SHORTLISTED ARTWORK
"NEVER BEEN SEEN"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 120 X 120cm
FRAMED IN TASMANIAN OAK
I grew up with a grandmother who was a painter and a mother who was a performer. I guess it’s no surprise that I am both and that I constantly 'draw lines' between the two.
My Grandmother, Kit, would paint all night and sleep all day… she said it was too hot in Central Queensland to be creative during the day.
She taught me to paint when I was big enough to hold the brush. One of my earliest memories is of sneaking little sips from the pretty coloured water jars where she would wash the paints from the brushes. So I guess you could say painting has, literally, always been in my blood! Artists were few and far between in the rural landscape of my home town of Rockhampton (land of the Darumbal People) but it was just a way of life in my family.
My mum, Annette, was a well known speech and drama teacher and a bit of a celebrity about the town. Mum would cook our dinner at night and then run off to rehearse theatre shows at the Rockhampton Little Theatre Clubrooms - a magical place where the adults used to laugh too loudly while smoking cigarettes and playing dress ups. I adored going with her. I’d take my blanket and pillow and watch them rehearse plays until I’d fall asleep under a row of seats.
These two amazing women are my constant and greatest influences, and although they are both no longer with us, their legacy has allowed me to always view the world through an artist's eyes - something for which I am eternally grateful.