Winner of the Spring 2012 Competition

Stranger in a Strange Land

Art that explores alienation.

UNTITLED III

oil on canvas

72 x 72 in.

$5500

artist statement

In the Embodied Series, I was examining in part the complex issues of sex and gender. The work has generated conversations about Jung’s theory of creativity involving the animus and anima (male and female) halves of the soul, and the Greek mythological figure, Hermaphrodite, as well as discussions about the ideal person, Man before The Fall, and the concept of The Innocent. This exploration began as an extremely personal investigation, but the work that transpired has fashioned a discourse that has grown far beyond the seed of my initial experience. It is an affirmation that the truly personal is always universal.

The theme of this competition, Stranger in a Strange Land, provided an ideal venue for this work to be shown. The figures appear in an ambiguous landscape, reflecting the ambiguity of their embodiment, the isolation and estrangement we all feel merely as a result of being individuals. I feel this work is speaking to each individual viewer privately and intimately. What can these figures teach each of us about the complexities of being human in an increasingly inhumane world? What can they tell us about the dangers of accentuating our differences – that which divides us, and minimizing our abundant similarities – the common bonds that unite us? Perhaps by accepting these figures as a reflection of our common human condition, we will begin to see that no one is really a stranger.

bio

Born in Los Angeles in 1969, Eric Allen Carter spent many years in Lincoln, Nebraska (earning his BFA in painting and photography from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln), then Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, NY (earning his MFA in painting from Pratt Institute), before returning to live and work in his hometown of L.A. A painter since age 7, Eric works primarily in oil on canvas. His work is best described as figurative realism, and is inspired most often by his personal experiences.

EDUCATION

M.F.A., Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY 2007

B.F.A., University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (graduated with honors) 2001

Fundacion Jose Ortega y Gasset, Toledo, Spain Jan - May 1997

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Steuben West Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY May 2007

Frame Central, Portland, OR April 2005

Tribe Art Gallery, Portland, OR February 2005

JURIED EXHIBITIONS

Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA June 2010

Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA June 2008

Micro Museum, Brooklyn, NY March 2007

Emerging Artists Group, November Show, emergingartistsgroup.com November 2006

Steuben West Gallery, Contemporary Tactics, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY May 2006

Annex Gallery, New York, NY April 2006 Eisentrager-Howard Gallery

“Undergraduate Fall Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 2001, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery

“Undergraduate Spring Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 2001, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery

“Undergraduate Fall Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 2001 Rotunda Gallery

“Art League Fall Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 1999, Rotunda Gallery

“Undergraduate Spring Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 1999 Rotunda Gallery

“Undergraduate Fall Show,” University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 1999

COLLECTIONS

Portland Community College - Cascade Campus, Portland, Oregon 2005

Eric Allen Carter

eric allen carter

los angeles, california [USA]

www.ericallencarter.com

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: I'd like to think my work is creating a new dialog, if only internally. And it's my hope and intention that my artwork will always ask more than it states.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: I'm inspired by the complexities of relationships, to ourselves/our bodies, as well as to each other and the world at large. I find the overlapping layers of personality, the richness of deep, honest conversation, and the intricate balance of all our relationships most inspirational.

Q: What are your challenges?

A: My greatest challenges have always manifested within myself. Are we not all our own worst critic? I think trusting in the creative process, and in the inherent value of what my artwork extracts from me, will continue to be my greatest challenge.

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

A: I received my first oil paint set when I was 7 years old. It felt very natural for me to express myself and my ideas with paints, oil in particular. I've tried many other mediums over the years but always come back to oil paint. I don't so much feel as though I chose it, but that it chose me.

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: Many different artists, for very different reasons, have had and continue to have a major influence on me. But I would say I am most captivated and moved by the psychological depth of the work of artists Lucien Freud, and Julie Heffernan.

GO TO

Stranger in a Strange Land

Exhibition Page

other works by the artist