Artist's Statement

I think of my work as a way of entering into synergy with the cosmos and with the collective human unconscious. I often start with motifs that appear to me in recurring dreams, developing them in a counterpoint between austere forms and complex coloration. As I work, I enter a flow state in which time stops and anomalies such as levitation and synchronicity can take place. This flow takes the form of improvisation, inspired by my experience as a jazz singer, around color gradations and the tension between elements. Luminous shapes begin to rise, glow, and vibrate, aligning themselves into a visual narrative that also creates an illusion of sound and movement.

The wonder and mystery that drive my explorations arise mainly from the subtle but vibrant possibilities of color, which have fascinated me since I was a child. Opening a new box of crayons - the biggest box, with the most colors - was a transcendental experience; even the smell of crayons transported me. Later, in my artistic training and life experiences, I further explored the power of color to symbolize feelings and relationships and to evoke visceral emotions.

A variety of influences has informed my art. By studying the work of Bauhaus painter and color theorist Josef Albers, I learned that colors can be seen as motion. My vision has also been deepened by the spare, meditative quality of Georgia O'Keefe's work; the "edge events" explored by Alfred Jensen; the impossibilities depicted by M.C. Escher; and the light-filled expanses of the Luminist school of painting. Architecture has been another source of inspiration for my work. The designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh have influenced my sense of color, form, balance, and rhythm.

The medium of digital art allows me to use color to produce three-dimensional effects, complex textures, and an ethereal light that permeates the images. Dream-like forms appear to hover in the shimmering glow of a sunrise, an exploding supernova, the aurora borealis, or the creation of the universe. Shapes, colors, and light reverberate in a harmonic equilibrium that suggests simultaneous stillness and movement. The images evoke levitation, gravitational attraction, bubbles in space-time, magnetic fields, portals, hidden passages, or deserted places waiting for an event.

Contemplating the finished work allows me to reenter the flow state of its creation. My art is meant to free the mind from its everyday bonds and draw the viewer into alternative perspectives on reality. Like clouds or Rorschach blots, my work suggests different emotions and images to different people; thus the viewer's imagination becomes part of the work of art.

Biography

Images by Carol Pentleton have been exhibited in group and solo shows in galleries, museums and other venues across the United States, including the Left Bank Gallery in Bennington, Vermont, Oculus Gallery in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, The Westport Art Center in Westport, Massachusetts, and the Warwick Arts Museum in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Ms Pentleton has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, has won several awards for her work in juried competitions, and she is listed in Marquis' Who's Who in the United States.

Born in 1952 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Ms Pentleton received her early training in painting from the well-known marine artist Louis Sylvia. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA, and later received an MFA from Syracuse University. She also studied with architectural photographer and preservationist William H. Gerold, Jr.