Artist Statement
In meticulously beaded sculptures Caroline Wayne pulls from her autobiography to illustrate stories of trauma, sexuality, intimacy, and growth. She uses couture millinery and embellishment techniques to communicate through craftsmanship. Detailed beading and cyclical patterning emphasize the consistent labor in the repetitive motion of hand-sewing, that which mirrors the emotional and psychic labor expended in order to manage the suffering a body can accumulate over time. Whether illustrating symbols of childhood abuse, its resultant patterns of thought and behavior, or the process of healing, her sculptures translate the life experience of a survivor of complex trauma through the lens of glittering beadwork, rendering a harrowing reality easier to digest. Wayne has shown work at The Salon at The Wing, SOHO, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and was a 2017/2018 A.I.R. Gallery Fellow where she has held two solo exhibitions. She is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
