Artist Carol Sconzert in a black shirt stands in front of her abstract paintings

Artist Carol Sconzert stands in front of her abstract paintings.

Light greens and blues abstract painting with gold foil detail

Close up of Carol Sconzert, Stasis

"Thread of Truth" featuring artwork by Carol Sconzert

 

May 10-June 30, 2022

The Caldwell Gallery

400 County Center, Redwood City

Carol Sconzert’s artwork featured in Thread of Truth explores the concept of change over time. The passage of time and life experiences layer upon each other. Our memories weld some key moments in place and dismiss others to the misty edges of subconscious. The process of building layers in Sconzert’s mixed media work allows her to explore the layers of her own life, and gives her a safe space to revisit the moments with the benefit of a more capable self.

Memories move and morph until a dim shadow becomes a shimmering beacon. In Sconzert’s art practice, obscure bits of experiences over a lifetime can ‘find each other’ and reconnect into a pattern or message that is clear only in hindsight. Sconzert enjoys the similarity to the cycles of nature — seed, growth, fruit, harvest, fallow — nothing is ever “gone” it is all there and we season through our lives.

Of the works featured in this exhibition, Sconzert writes, “Over the past few years our society has grappled with enormous challenges of dramatic events and polarizing opinions, punctuated by tactics of exaggeration and distortion. The lack of reasonable debate has left a scar on our civilization and jeopardized our future. My ruminations on these events gave rise to a series of works with a common thread: Truth. What is it? Where is it? How are we committed to it? And how does our personal value system color our actions? Interestingly, the macro events of the day distilled easily into explorations of interpersonal reflections, and this is where I found a language that I believe can resonate with each of us – a universal Truth. This body of work is dedicated to all who are committed to facing personal truths, to reconciling interpersonal differences, and to pledge for clarity in a chaotic world.”

ARTIST BIO

Carol Sconzert grew up in a small town on the edge of Lake Ontario, in New York state, where long green summers were spent exploring outdoors, and frigid winters snuggled inside with books and art projects. Tagging along her mother’s frequent trips to fabric stores, Carol picked up her joy of the process of envisioning and creating. Wandering the aisles, she would melt into the textures and colors, welcoming the contrasts of sheers and nubbys, and merrily hunting for the perfect match of fabrics for some imagined fairytale creation.

After a summer traveling in France, Carol graduated with a BFA degree and took a leap of faith and joined a friend headed West for an adventure. Landing in Los Angeles, Carol found jobs silk-screening and sign printing, and soon working for a company setting up trade shows and conventions. A mentor there taught her drafting and for seven years she drew floorplans and ran a sign shop producing graphics for conventions all over Southern California. When she yearned for another jump, Northern California was the destination, and Carol started a new job as a Convention/ Trade show Designer, transforming convention centers into immersive experiences.

Carol was eventually drawn back to her deepest longing to create fine art. Even with a gratifying career she found herself wondering about the path not taken. She explains, “My return to art started as a healing and self-discovery journey…. But if I was looking for “The Big Answer” I can tell you that I didn’t find it; rather I found a thousand small answers. I’ve learned how universal many of the small moments are in everyone’s lives, and when I memorialize them in art, it grounds me.”

Sconzert is glad to be working in her outdoor studio in the San Francisco Bay area, producing artworks that capture the energy of the journey over decades that has taken her from a knee-high view of mom’s sewing room to an outdoor sanctuary amongst shade trees, kitty cats and songbirds. Her work is influenced by artists such as Mark Rothko, Kathe Kollwitz, Enrico Donati, Nathan Oliveira, Adolph Gottlieb, Richard Diebenkorn, ad Alice Neel.

Carol employs various art techniques in her abstract expressionist work, using many layers and textures to reveal and obscure meanings. The process is often very wet, so several canvases are in progress at any given time. Dry pigments, fabrics, papers, and wax are added for specific effects. She notes, “The process forces me to be patient, something that does not come easily for me but which I appreciate.” Carol Sconzert serves as an Arts Commissioner for Redwood City, CA helping to build the City’s legacy public arts portfolio. In 2019 she secured 3rd Place Overall in the University Art 11th Annual Open Juried Show. Her work is shown in San Francisco Open Studios, Silicon Valley Open Studios, ART San Diego, and Wall Box Gallery.

For more visit: sconzert-art.com/

Video walkthrough of Carol Sconzert's exhibition