CAROLINE LANDER
“I used to live there” is often a sad phrase used to describe a space once full of love. I paint to document the places I have lived or visited as a means to reckon with the memories, objects, and people attached to these spaces. These paintings then take the form of large colored pencil drawings on paper with a dark acrylic wash. In [title of specific work or series?], I construct my bedroom—the windows, bed, posters, flowers from my parents, and the squishmallows I cuddle every night through tight, repeated marks. Everything in my room is important and holds significance to me. I consider my paintings not only a declaration of love to the space I inhabit, but also a declaration to the act of painting itself. Built upon the notion that care and attention are deeply related, these paintings are about looking, labor, and love. Through these paintings I declare my existence. They are my portraits; I am the ghost who paints them.
Room 6,2024 Colored pencil and acrylic paint on paper. 4ft x 6.5ft
Room 5, 2024. Colored pencil and acrylic paint on paper. 4 ft x 6.5 ft
Room 4. 2023. Colored pencil and acrylic paint on paper. 4ftx6.5 ft