Artist Statement
My work stems from a deep admiration for the structure of natural and domestic landscapes - useless objects, muscles, and livestock. I explore the human condition- my condition- through wood, clay, and textile sculptures that overlay themes of femininity, suffering, and womanhood, with the grotesque, absurd, and bestial. By utilizing animal semiotics I am able to discuss the similarities between human and beast. I use utilitarian objects and conceptual art collaboratively to comment on the meat of humanity, and the range of emotions that can be evoked by the rawness of nature and the recognition that we are not, in fact, seperate from it.
Using traditional techniques, I methodically carve out my figures with finely sharpened tools. I take great care to honor the material, running my hands through the grain to feel out any imperfections in my carvings. Similar to the way a mother lives for her child, and a farmer lives for his farm, I live for my - I offer myself to the practice in my studio with endless sacrifice and grueling repetition, in the hopes that what I bring to life will sustain, nourish and outlive me.
Biography
Caroline Branch is a young, passionate craftsperson and painter. The artist was born and raised in a large county outside of Richmond, Virginia. Other than a two year gap she spent living in Germany with her family at the age of 10, Branch grew up in a strip mall town and found solace in creating art. As a child, she was obsessed with drawing plants and animals, things she couldn’t find in the environment around her. Caroline is currently attending Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, with the intention of graduating with a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA). While she is studying in the Department Craft/Material studies, she also has two minors, Painting/Printmaking, and Art History. After making her first piece of furniture in the fall of 2020, she fell in love with the precision and hardwork, woodworking entails. She now spends most of her time honing her technical skills in the studio to better serve her admiration for the miraculous absurdity of nature. Being one of many who have suffered under the hands of womanhood, she explores overlapping themes found within femininity and beasts.