Carina Karlsson
Carina Karlsson’s studio at The Arts Depot, Abingdon, Virginia, is replete with energy, just as she is. The sign on her wall says “21st Century Tramp Art,” and she is a shining example of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Her art is created from found objects. She calls it tramp art which is a folk art style created from found objects such as cigar boxes, wood chips, China, mirrors and matchsticks.
She grew up in a family of makers. Her mother was a painter and seamstress. Her father was a blacksmith. Karlsson, herself, didn’t get serious about her art until her daughter went to college.
“I knew I didn’t want to turn into some kind of weird helicopter parent, so I asked, ‘What am I going to do?’ So, I took accordion lessons, and I started getting more involved with art,” she says.
Her first foray was collage, which she learned from a book. Then she went to workshops and met other artists. She creates books, paintings, buttons, little creatures and assemblages. For instance, she has a creature made from a small mint tin, epoxy head, toothbrush and arms and legs. Her imagination is unlimited, and she is inspired by objects that she can use to tell a story.
“Most of my artwork is story, story, story, where it came from, what is it made of. I call myself a 21st-century tramp artist and that comes from the concept of in the 1920s and the 1930s tramps would take things like discarded cigar boxes and chip carve them and turn them into something that they could sell. My art is a different version of it. I don’t like to buy new fabric. I take clothing apart. I reuse and recycle stuff, so that means it comes premade with stories.
“I really like doing collaborative work. The siren, a mermaid image, that is at William King Museum, started with a frame that I got from somebody. It’s really one of my most high-tech pieces, it’s interiorly lit which is a leap forward for me. But I had a friend help me build the shadow box that it sits in. So many pieces that I do involve collaboration. I’m all about collaboration and community,” she says.
Another piece, also on exhibit at William King Museum, is called “Spider Baby.” It is started out as arms and legs from ceramic dolls. They were part of a project created by Ford Studio, Marion, Virginia, to create assemblages from the remains of a collection of damaged ceramic dolls. They sent Karlsson four arms and four legs for her part of the project.
“I looked at it and thought it’s a spider or an octopus and I don’t want to make suckers for the tentacles, so it’s a spider,” she says. This was another collaborative project. She created a papier-mâché body to attach the legs to but had to get a friend to drill holes in the ceramic pieces.
“I love how these things weren’t just done by me. You know they have stories. Some of it tells a simpler story and some of it tells a more complex story.
“I have a journaling group that meets here and the whole idea is let’s share our strengths, let’s share our skills, let’s build community. I really like encouraging young artists. You know there’s so many people that walk around and say, ‘I’m not really an artist.’ I say, ‘nobody checks your credentials.’ There’s no car with a red light that pulls up and says, ‘Lady I’ve seen your work. You’re no artist.’ People don’t say, ‘Well I’m not really a waitress’ or ‘I’m not really a gardener.’ If you call yourself an artist, then that’s what you are. Everybody starts somewhere and some of your first stuff may not be so wonderful, but it’s not like anybody puts on roller skates and skates backwards the first time. It takes time,” she says.
Her artwork has been exhibited in Barcelona, Spain and Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
For more information, visit www.abingdonartsdepot.com.
