About
Janelle Carter’s experience as a trained and underground artist, curator, commercial artist and community volunteer all inform her vibrant visual perspective. She is drawn aesthetically to the 1970s and the sepia-tinted images that emerged during that time period. In much of her mixed media work, she uses emotive images and silhouettes where she can fill in her own textual narrative to fit into the visual metaphor she is creating. One of her wishes is to empower the human spirit through her art: exploring the imperfect process and the relishing explosive end result of inspiration. Her art is a record of her journey as she continues searching to become a more authentic, mindful person.
Carter studied art at UCSB where she discovered the power of book arts, and began examining “the book” itself as a form : deconstructing books, playing with them in mixed media, collage and specialized printmaking. Later, while studying art in Tasmania, Australia the conceptual art education she received at UCSB was supplemented with the notion that art comes from the soul first, the eye and mind second. Searching for the underground art scene in San Diego led her to curate multiple shows between 2003 -2005 with a crew of renegade female artists called GRRRRL power and with Lyceum Theatre in conjunction with their theater production of both, “Bad Dates” and “Da Kink in My Hair”.
Some of Carter’s selected showings have been in multiple galleries in the Southern California area, including solo shows Electric 52 at Art of Framing (2008), The Visual Underground Volume 22 at The Whistle Stop (2007), and collaborative shows ArtHaul NYC (2009), Marking Territory: The Imaginary Lines that Limit Us at UCSD, The Loft (2008), and The Women in Hip Hop Conference at The Rubber Rose Gallery (2007).
At present, Carter continues to give back to the San Diego art community by volunteering to mentor teenagers at the art center ARTS, A Reason to Survive in Point Loma. ARTS provides free art classes for any member of society of any socio-economic background. She also participates in the annual art/food/music event Fruit of the Soul (www.fruitofthesoul.org), an organization that brings together food from the top restaurants in San Diego, music from local performers, and affordable art from local artists, all to raise money for selected San Diego charities. She has worked with Fruit of the Soul in multiple capacities, from curating the donation of art from local San Diego artists, to the lead production and execution of the art segment of this amazing festival. Additionally, Carter designs Tshirt graphics for brands and stores such as Sub-Urban Riot, Lost, Surf Diva, Fringe Gear, Marvel Comics, Op, Urban Outfitters, Anchor Blue, and others. She is currently developing her next solo show which focuses on her intricate illustration style, mixing text, organic lines, portraits and cultural patterns.