Carolyn Cole

Drawing from the traditions of abstract painting, Carolyn Cole works intuitively, with particular interest in color, texture, and expressive forms. Each of Cole’s canvases is the product of complex layering: she typically begins by collaging materials onto her canvas—such as pages from books, letters, and envelopes—then adds successive layers of paint, pencil, and charcoal, sometimes scraping through surface layers to those underneath with a palette knife. The resulting images, with their softly defined blocks of color, convey a captivating sense of rhythm and lyricism.