Carolyn Case

Carolyn Case’s paintings rely on a beguiling density, gained from years of working and reworking a surface. Spaces are articulated out of a selection of suggestions; a leaf or a palm frond, a bisected jug, a coffee cup stain, or notebook paper page might come and go out of the diversity of painting approaches. Each work implies a stunning resolve to erase and redo, coating areas in so many overlapping drips, scrapes, brush marks and dabs that are ruthlessly sanded away. Case’s layers sometimes recall lace or quilts, and patterns recall travels to Japan, Iran and India, with references to Andean textiles, miniature painting, and the earnest doodles of teens. Intense workmanship interplays with the bravado of mechanical erasure, as Case’s paintings make a compelling argument for the liberating qualities of second thoughts. 

Originally from California, Carolyn Case earned her MFA from MICA's Mount Royal School of Art in Baltimore, MD, and her BFA from California State University in Long Beach, CA. Her solo exhibitions include Lux Art Institute, CA, Western Michigan University, Loyola University, MD, McLean Projects for the Arts, Washington, D.C., and the Art Registry in Washington D.C. She has participated in two-person and group exhibitions at the Delaware Museum of Art, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, The Parlour Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, Joyce Goldstein Gallery, Chatham, NY, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA, and John Fonda Gallery, Baltimore, MD. Residencies include the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Lux Art Institute, CA, the School 33 Art Center in Baltimore, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Kanoria Centre for the Arts in Ahmedabad, India.  Reviews include ArtNews, the Baltimore Sun, New American Paintings, Metro Weekly, and Two Coats of Paint. She has received the Bethesda Painting Award and is a 2018 and 2017 Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize Semi-finalist.