Carol-Anne believes art is empowering. From the Broward County Fair in Florida to New York City for the Scholastic Art Award, Carole-Anne was making and showing prize-worthy artwork from a very young age. It also was at a tender age that she learned about skin color, race politics, and how art can be a catalyst for social change and reconstruction. She recalls as early as elementary school when her white friend wanted her white Barbie doll to play with and told Carol she should “only play with dolls that look like [her].” Ten years later, not much had shifted as she witnesses a mother “softly suggest to her daughter to choose the white doll, because ‘her hair is brighter,’” at a popular toy store in the mall. “The art I make stands out,” maintains Carol-Anne, and knowing this it is her volition to “pair my experiences with social critique to share my vision in challenging and reconstructing current social structures.” As a conceptual artist, McFarlane doesn’t feel beholden to any one medium. “I consider what I am communicating and how I want to communicate it to the viewer.” Having experienced gender-based harrassment on the street, her work strives to create a space for dialogue distilling aspects of her personal experience into strong conceptual works based in “feelings conjured from these public interactions.” Her recent print series is called The Targets. “The two-dimensionality of a silhouette supports the feeling of being stripped of one’s humanity in an instant,” explains Carol-Anne. “The blackness of the figure does not allow the viewer to engage. It only allows violation and denies her gifts and dreams.” By printing these images digitally, McFarlane further comments on “the random and frequent instances of catcalling; the ease of the perpetrator to call into question one’s safety and constant reminder that one is the subject of the male gaze.” Through these pieces, which are based on the ideals of intersectional feminism, Carol-Anne hopes to inspire self-examination and self–improvement within the viewer leading to empowerment. “I create artwork that brings this consciousness to the forefront so people can be intentional when responding to what we experience in the world,” says Carol-Anne, who is known in New York City’s feminist circles for her signature Target silhouettes. Those that collect her work are seeking to solidify their experience and worldview regarding these complex questions of gender-based harassment. Having lost her studio space about a year ago, one of her biggest challenges is finding space to work and resources by which to realize her visions. Often working digitally via computer, she also frequents The ArtCenter on Lincoln Road during open studio hours. This year, she plans to increase her collector base and is planting seeds for a long-term video based series. “I am taking my time to explore what I want to say in this medium,” says Carol-Anne, who is thinking about narrative and putting ideas together in a look book at this time. She also intends to get into screen printing.
Follow the artist on Instagram @camcfarlane