Turtle Self
Artist
Diane Carr
(American, born 1946)
Date1985
MediumAcrylic, spackling paste on sheet aluminum
Dimensions30 × 26 × 8 in. (76.2 × 66 × 20.3 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Andrew and Gayle Camden, 2016
Object numberUAC6466
DescriptionDiane Carr is a Detroit artist known for her sculptures. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University, followed by her M.F.A. from Wayne State University. While primarily known for her sculptural works, Carr has also taught painting at several institutions, including Macomb Community College, Wayne State University, and the Ox Bow Summer Workshop in Saugatuck Michigan. She has received many awards throughout her career, including the “North West Michigan Regional Artists” award from Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City in 2006 and 1996, the Creative Artist Award from the Michigan Council for the Arts in 1985, the Mary Woodruff Award from the Detroit Artist Market in 1976, and the Graduate Professional Scholarship from Wayne State University from 1974 through 1976. Carr has several public sculptures throughout Michigan, such as the outdoor sculpture “Skystone” at the New Buffalo Welcome Center, her wall sculptures entitled “Sky Crystals” at the Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit, two wall sculptures at the Detroit Institute of Arts, one wall sculpture at the Dennos Museum Center, and one wall sculpture at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac, Michigan. Her sculptural works exhibit abstraction, yet she composes a variety of organic shapes within them that appear to be reminiscent of forms we might find in nature, like rocks, seashells, leaves, among other natural objects. Carr’s 1985 sculpture Turtle Self is currently on view at the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery in the exhibition Confluent: Detroit Art and the University Art Collection. She employs acrylic, spackling paste, and sheet aluminum to compose the shell of a turtle. These media culminate to create a hard, yet beautiful exterior. The shell is primarily black, with green and orange curved lines covering it. There are also two blue triangles peeking out from the bottom, which may reference the body of the turtle within the shell. It is interesting to note that Carr chooses to focus on the shell, rather than the entire turtle. When we see a shell, we often admire its design, yet we also wonder about what is hiding inside. The same can be said about human beings and the complexities of the human condition. We may encounter people in our lives who project a conventionally beautiful exterior, but we are left to ponder what may be happening on the inside, be it fear, trauma, insecurities, among other things; we may even be these people ourselves. It is much easier to hide under our visually pleasing shells than it is to choose vulnerability. Carr may be asking us as viewers to see ourselves in Turtle Self, reflecting on the way we present ourselves to the world.
Written by Angela Athnasios
Source: http://dianecarrart.com/Artist.html
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