| Carmen B. Norris Statement / Website Click images to enlarge |
Artist StatementMy work captures the complex poetry of two rich and vastly diverging cultural experiences. Born in Puerto Rico, but later having moved to New York City, has allowed me to weave together elements from each experience that has shaped my unique view. Nature and its inherent variety of patterns creeps its way into each of the works. My own patterning however, mirrors memories of the chaotic city streets of the Bronx through lush rainforests. My use of mixed media-colored pencil, pastel, oil paints, and collage represents the complexity of my personal experiences and desire to make sense of my existence. My choice to combine abstract, organic forms, representational imagery, and pattern designs demonstrates my search for harmony, balance, and rhythm, which are essential to my work. I borrow from Latin culture and the liquidity of the female form. My visual and contextual influences are Sandra Cisneros, Juan González, Joyce Kozloff, Georgia O'Keeffe, Judith Ortiz Cofer, James Rosenquist, and Esmeralda Santiago. Their beautiful poignant stories of childhood, intergenerational relationships, and assimilation as well as their use of color, pattern and use of imagery combine to create lyrical works of art, which have influenced my work. Biography Carmen B. Norris Education New Jersey City University, Jersey City, New Jersey Employment St Joseph's Grammar School, Jersey City, New Jersey Selected Exhibitions“Hoboken Artists Studio Tour,” Hoboken,
New Jersey. 2004. |