Today we’d like to introduce you to Carris Adams.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Carris. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Dallas, TX. I came to Chicago in 2013 to earn my MFA from The University of Chicago. With the amazing faculty and small cohort, I was encouraged to make paintings that explored markers in the landscape.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nope. Haha. Of course, the life of an artist is difficult and paved with gifts and stumbling blocks. I’ve worked multiple jobs, started projects, ended projects all while trying to maintain my practice as a maker and educator. I feel like I am consistently working 3 jobs and none of them provide healthcare. HA!
While I have had the honor of exhibiting my work consistently, sometimes it comes at the price of a social life or money. And just when I start to beat myself up, I am invited to participate in a show, have a studio visit or I become inspired and then I’m in the studio for hours. The rush of working out a new idea, completing a project or having a show, makes all the struggles worth it.
Carris Adams – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My work visually investigates markers of “domesticated space”. The domestication of space occurs through the markers and signs of presence (i.e. roads, residential structures, commercial structures, government buildings, cemeteries, advertisements etc.) resulting in “grounding”.
This act of grounding produces neighborhoods and sites, often defined by temporal boundaries and limits. Human necessity (in addition to prejudices, politics, and aesthetics) aid in the formation of boundaries and subsequent value judgments about the inhabitants surrounding these objects. My work investigates these markers and the relational threads between ownership in marginalized spaces, politics, class, histories, celebration, and resilience.
My itinerant tendencies and unsettled curiosity allow for found images, objects and language to become source material for the studio. Thusly the works are conceptually multi-layered, often with double or triple meanings that seek to inform and position viewers to recognize their assumptions, recall an experience and perhaps note how societal markers materialize in the landscape.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I’m not sure how to measure success or failure for my paintings. I have hope that everything happens for a reason. In my work, I try not to call anything a failure. When I’m struggling I go back to my sketches and why I decided to make the work in the first place.
Success is not about selling work. It is about maintaining my practice and integrity. My most successful works keep me on my toes, through the mark making, polysemic text, and surface. If I can look at my own work and allow myself to get lost, then I have succeeded.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carrisadams.com
- Email: carris.adams@gmail.com
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