Carrie McGee’s mixed media constructions explore variation within repeated forms. Utilizing transparent plastics as a ground, she experiments with natural and chemical processes, such as rust and oxidation, to create luminous works that emanate a meditative pulse.
McGee’s investigations developed on the periphery of her work as an abstract painter. During a studio move she discovered a sheet of vinyl containing a multi-layered pattern of rust spheres, the result of a slow ceiling leak. The illuminated metal impressions were unexpectedly beautiful and possessed a combination of organic and industrial qualities McGee sought in her paintings. Initially experienced as playful experimentation, this work became the central focus of McGee’s efforts, and soon evolved from ephemeral to lasting and architectural in scope.
McGee has lived in many parts of the United States, having migrated from Cincinnati to Los Angeles, New York, and finally Nashville. She has worked in historic buildings as a conservation painter, and as a scenic painter for a variety of films and sets. McGee received a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the. Arts/Southern Arts Federation, as well as a residency fellowship from the Christoph Merian Foundation in Basel, Switzerland. Her paintings and constructions have been exhibited regularly for the past thirty-five years.