In The Spotlight With Carole P. Kunstadt

By ecline2013 on July 1, 2016 • ( 0 )

WAAM is pleased to present our exclusive interview with artist Carole P. Kunstadt, a Hudson Valley multi-media artist inspired by material, process, history and memory.

WAAM: How would you describe yourself?

Carole: My journey as an artist began as a child drawing, painting, sewing, macrame and embroidery. A BFA degree from Hartford Art School with a concentration in two-dimensional art led me to continue to explore tapestry design, collage, calligraphy, fiber and book arts – the focus being the exploration of materials and engagement in process.

WAAM: Are you a Hudson Valley native? If not, what brought you here and how long ago?

Carole: Skiing Hunter Mt. was my husband’s destination for day trips from the city every winter, influenced by his close friend’s family owning property in Lanesville. His interest and familiarity with the area grew over the years, becoming the clear choice when we ultimately relocated two and a half years ago, having lived in New York City for 35 years. Until I attended Hartford Art School in Connecticut, I grew up in a small New England town south of Boston.

WAAM: What & why do you create?

Carole: Works on/of paper – paper is both long lived and transient. Gouache or graphite on paper have an immediacy and intimacy to them. Sewing and knotting through paper is repetitive/meditative and also suggestive of time passing. Cutting and recombining antique paper re-purposes as well as offers new experiences of memory and history.

WAAM: What is your sustaining inspiration?

Carole: “Evidence in the tactile provides contrast of the ethereal.” Lenore Tawney

Often the materials I use are vintage/antique which invokes other people’s histories giving the work a metaphysical quality of timelessness. Recent works reference the material of books, deconstructing paper and text. My interest/devotion to books is inspired by the ability of the written word to take the reader to other places through stories, poems and prayers. Process reveals how language can become visual through re-interpretation.

WAAM: Do you have a job to support your art? How is it relevant?

Carole: Freelance decorating involved working with form, color and texture beyond my studio work for many years. And as a young artist I apprenticed and became assistant to a master weaver in her tapestry studio in Soho and subsequently Connecticut. Eventually I formed a partnership opening our own tapestry workshop. All of these experiences have informed my work – over 20 years had passed since I had been weaving, but it resurfaced when I started intuitively weaving cut paper from an antique book in my ongoing Sacred Poem Series and has evolved in cutting and re-combining antique music manuscripts as well as vintage photo postcards.

Thank you Carole!