SABINE CARLSON

Drawing, Painting, Visual / Media

One time on a hike at Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, I saw a bird who lives on the water walk amidst a stand of trees. The bird’s feet looked like swim fins. The trees stood.
Ways of traversing landscape is a recurring theme in my work. I aim for a wobbly kind of balance, where definition and doubt keep each other upright.

About the Artist

Sabine Carlson is an American painter born in Cologne, Germany. She exhibits widely in the United States as well as internationally. Her paintings are featured in ‘Studio Visit’, ‘American Art Collector’, ‘West Branch’ and ‘New American Paintings’. Her work is included in public, corporate and private collections in Germany, Italy, in the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. 2024 exhibitions: cont. through Jan 20, "Just a Moment", mini solos of recent work by nine Affiliates, at Viridian Artists, New York, NY. Recent exhibitions include 'Herstory, An Exhibition for All Genders’, at Viridian Artists, New York, NY;  ‘Art Maryland 2022’, biennial survey juried by Schroeder Cherry, at HCAC, Ellicott City, MD; ‘Anticipation’, an Exhibition of work by 6 Viridian Affiliates, at Viridian Artists, New York, NY; ‘Finding Home’, 33rd Annual Prince George’s County Juried Exhibition, Juror: Nancy Sausser, at Harmony Hall Art Center, Fort Washington, MD; ‘Symbiotic Presence’ juried by Shanti Norris, Brentwood Arts Exchange, Brentwood, MD; 'Tracing Ripples’, paintings by Sabine Carlson, at the Ebbeler Family Maryland Heritage Center Gallery, Pyramid Atlantic Arts Building, Hyattsville, MD; ‘12th Annual Contemporary Figurative Show', Hilliard Gallery, Kansas City, MO; 'Mid Atlantic New Painting 2018', University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA; 'CHROMA, Paintings by Sabine Carlson and Robert Matthews, HCAC, Ellicott City, MD. Carlson holds a BFA degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. She has lived and worked in the Mid Atlantic Region since 1995. Since 2005 her studio is located in College Park, MD.

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Artist's Statement

The figures in my recent paintings show their identity in fleeting partial views. Humans have floating devices or ice skates. Birds’ exaggerated swim fins point to a life in the water, but in the paintings you find them balancing as if on dry land. Encounters show the birds as if inquiring about the human’s feet, wondering as they wander about. Where have you been? Where are you going? How do you stand? I aim for my paintings to make beautiful visual spaces that nourish the persistence of these questions. My paintings are handmade. I currently prefer small and midsize formats, using acrylic paints on wood supports that are between 1” and 1.5” deep. My colors are bright, with lots of light in them. My inspiration for these comes from hiking with my dogs in the larger DC – Baltimore area nature preserves such as Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, Greenbelt Park and Lake Artemisia. The representational imagery in my paintings often shows strange or unlikely encounters. The colors create the harmonies and structures that give everything a place to be together.  

Featured Work