Carol Burns. Artist Statement.
I am an award winning Scottish born Artist living in Wiltshire, England, who is best known for her unconventional abstracts.
I am interested in people (Every single individual on this planet is a multifaceted being comprising many different identities with no single one providing the ultimate key to unlocking their character) and I find our internal and external narratives captivating. After all, we dream in narrative, daydream in narrative, remember, anticipate, hope, despair, believe, doubt, plan, revise, criticise, construct, gossip, learn, and love by narrative. It enables us to share our internal world in a meaningful way and helps us make sense of the external world we inhabit. Finding a visual means of examining those narratives, and the abstract ideas contained within them, is endlessly fascinating to me and it's those inner landscapes that I aim to capture within my work.
My paintings are not designed to be representational. I start with an idea or concept which I then explore through the layering of paint, intuitive mark making and collage. My process is a constant balancing act between control, instinct, reacting to the accidental and deliberately adding elements to provide contrast and interest.The end result is a work which is rich with history, colour and pattern all of which combine to capture the essence of the initial idea. Each piece is intentionally left open to interpretation which means that it is only complete when the viewer applies their own experiences and narratives to it.
I am member of the Artist Network initiative at the Royal West of England Academy of Art and a Visual Artists Association working artist.
Bio.
2025
Open Exhibition, The Society Of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, London. (24th to 28th June)
Mortal & Strong, Sidings, Waterloo, London. (10th to 17th May)
Sussex Art Fair, Goodwood Racecourse, Chichester. (9th to 11th May)
Palette x Palate, Old Bank, Dungarvan, Ireland. (19th April to 2nd June)
Pop Up Gallery, McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Swindon.
Artist Network Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy of Art, Bristol. (26th of March to 11th May)
The Secret Postcard Auction, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy.
28 (mundane) Days Later (Photography Exhibition), The Little Hop, Swindon.
EmpowerHER: Creativity, Courage & Magical Thinking, CasildART Contemporary, London.
eXi, Crypt Gallery, St Pancras, London.
Festival Of Tomorrow, Pop Up Gallery, McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Swindon.
Festival Of Tomorrow, Steam Museum, Swindon.
Externalising The Internal, Haus A Rest, Issue 56.
Light In The Dark, BobCat Gallery, London.
Open Exhibition, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy. (Highly Commended Award).
Homiens - Promoted Artist.
VAA International Exhibition and Scholarship Prize - Shortlisted.
Jacksons Art Prize - Extended Longlist.
2024
Here + Now, Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester.
Loneliness and Poetics 2024 London Contemporary Art Review, Gallery Nat, London. (Excellence Award)
The Secret Postcard Auction, Royal West of England Academy of Art, Bristol.
The Path, Palazzo Pisani-Revedin, Venice Biennale, Venice.
Stone & Soar, Butley Mills Studio, Suffolk.
A Collection of Abstracts, Swindon Open Studio’s, The Little Hop, Swindon (Solo)
Mortal & Strong Selected Artist, Mortal & Strong Project, London (Exhibition 2025)
Summer Open, Artizan Gallery, Torquay. (Award Winner)
Summer Show, Fox Yard Gallery, Stowmarket.
Open Exhibition, The Society Of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, London.
101 Contemporary Artists & More, Book available via CoA Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Beyond A Joke!, Swindon Fringe Arts Festival, Artsite Postmodern, Swindon.
Artizan Women's Open Exhibition 2024, Artizan Gallery, Torquay.
Women In Art, CoA Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Spring Awakening, Fox Yard Gallery, Stowmarket.
Open Exhibition, The White Horse Gallery, Marlborough.
Fraction, Fox Yard Gallery, Stowmarket. (Best Painting Award)
EmpowerHER: Creativity, Courage & Magical Thinking, CasildART Contemporary, London.
Open Exhibition, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy.
Un/Familiar, Fox Yard Gallery, Stowmarket.
VAA Artist Of The Year - Longlisted.
VAO 2024 - Longlisted.
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2023
Open Exhibition, ING Discerning Eye (Selected by Chris Levine), Mall Galleries, London.
Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy of Art, Bristol.
Open Exhibition, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy.
Open Exhibition, CMAF, Calne.
A Collection of Work, Swindon Open Studio’s, The Hop Inn, Swindon (Solo)
Open Exhibition, The White Horse Gallery, Marlborough.
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2022
Open Exhibition, Royal Cambrian Academy of Art, Conwy.
Abstraction, The Hop Inn, Swindon (Solo)
A Collection of Work, Magnum, Swindon (Solo)
A Collection of Work, The Little Hop, Swindon (Solo)
Contemporary Art Fair, Surrey.
A CV detailing previous years work is available on request.
