Carrie Gillen

Gillen creates undulating surfaces that bind and hold the painted form, inviting the viewer to contemplate the relationship between structure and fluidity. Her current body of work focuses on materiality, abstraction, and nuanced color relationships. She uses fabric to amplify movement and tension in her work. As fabric folds and bends into a dynamic canvas, color and light are refracted in new ways."I trap color within the form but allow it to breath and refract light through the pleated surface. The folds and seams of the surface abstract the shapes laid therein. The final works don’t rely on narrative, or easily decipherable imagery, but rather our sense experience" - Carrie Gillen

Carrie Gillen is a St. Louis based painter and sculptor. She received her B.A. from Loyola University in New Orleans and her MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her current body of work focuses on materiality, abstraction, and nuanced color relationships. She uses fabric to amplify movement and tension in her work. As fabric folds and bends into a dynamic canvas, color and light are refracted in new ways.Gillen exhibits her work locally and nationally. She is the recipient of the Jose Jimenez Public Art Award and the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis Artist Support Grant. She is currently a studio member at Intersect STL a non-profit studio, gallery, and classroom supporting the south side neighborhoods of St. Louis.