Change is Constant
About Carrie Ida
My first experiences with objects in continuous change were spurred by daily life in my childhood household, which was structured around my parents’ Great Depression era values. These everyday household experiences through my childhood revolved around collecting and reusing objects and materials. Because our home was in a continuous cycle of sorting, altering, and mending, I developed a personal interest with the activities or transitions of objects and places.
Change is constant and with every change comes a transitional process. Exploring everyday transitions about a place or subject matter has been a component in the production of my art projects. In choosing a place or subject matter for an art project, I need to be curious enough that it activates my inquisitiveness, prompting me to ask questions and seek more details. Thrift store objects, weathered bird houses and the experiences of standing in the open landscape for example, have led me to expand my vision with my beginning concepts of change with objects and places.
My art practice is derived from my life experiences and my undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the arts and humanities academic disciplines. Observation is the starting point for exploring these transitions of a place or subject matter. I examine the motion or multi-layered narrative of the transition through documentation in the form of photography, drawing and video as well as multi-discipline artistic research methods. These methods aid in the beginning stages to form individual art pieces and larger bodies of artwork. In addition, these beginning stages also guide which visual depiction and medium best represent a specific subject matter. Previous bodies of work have utilized video, photographs, graphite drawings, various printmaking methods and mixed media.
Through exhibits, presentations and collaborative projects, various bodies of my artwork have been shared with the public. A few of these recent opportunities are: Greetings from PK Lane solo exhibit at Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library Gallery on the Mezzanine. Shadow Portraits solo exhibit at The Brinton Museum, New Beginnings: GMOs vs. Organic inclusion in The Print Center’s 93rd Annual, and receiving the Wyoming Arts Council Professional Development/ Career Advancement Grant. View my Curriculum Vitae’ HERE
Another place I enjoy observing transitions is in my native scape. One of my gardens is a western native landscape in my front yard. Blanket Flowers, Lupine and Asters are just a few of the plants that attract pollinators and regional birds in my suburban neighborhood. Every year this garden experiences changes from seasonal, climate, and seed propagation. Every year my native scape offers constant change and I revel in spending time in those transitions.
In 2019, I received an opportunity to move to the American West, which I have not previously spent much time in. The open landscape, western culture and employment path that brought me to the west was quite an experience for me since I lived the majority of my life on the East Coast. I am currently working on a new body of artwork that relates to American Western history and everyday objects.
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