AFTER ME THE FLOOD

‘AFTER ME THE FLOOD’ – CARISSA KARAMAKO

2 – 13 October 2019

EXHIBITION LAUNCH
Wednesday 18 September, 6-8pm

At Saint Cloche we have a passion for defining new styles and careers by putting the spotlight on young artists who are on the rise. Our focus and energy regularly fix on championing emerging artists. One such artist, is Carissa Karamako who has been in two previous group exhibitions with us. AFTER ME THE FLOOD is her first solo show.

‘AFTER ME THE FLOOD’ explores the idea that objects are not simply static placeholders arbitrarily taking space. These objects are living, evolving vessels that continue to colour and change with and through interaction and experiences they exist alongside. Through a scale of texture and colour, Carissa takes us on a journey through a changing emotional landscape of objects. We can observe these traditionally inanimate objects re-calibrate and transform based on lived experience; a type of alchemy. They darken or become lighter in essence, dependant on our perception of them.’

Central to the concept, each item needed to have a life and history and therefore, things were collected from the artist’s house, from friends, family and antique shops. The objects aren’t necessarily painted in their true colours and their structure is sometimes exaggerated or minimised; altered in some way. Their physical representation was less important to communicate and can’t measure up to their intrinsic feeling and emotional weight. Some objects are depicted more than once yet appear different in each painting to demonstrate how they may have transformed over time.

Derived from the classic adage, “Après Moi, Le Deluge” attributed to both King Louise XV and his lover Madame De Pompadour, this expression lends itself to the title of this body of work. These objects are observed and interacted with, but there is still some order, we don’t know what will happen afterwards, once the observer is no more.

In 2018 Carissa was a finalist in the Geelong Contemporary Art Award & Exhibition, Muswellbrook Art Prize & Exhibition, Mosman Art Prize & Exhibition, and Kangaroo Valley Art Prizes.