Carol Sexton
Sculpture

Though I am a multi-faceted artist with skills in many areas, working three-dimensionally gives me the greatest pleasure.  Recently I have been reviving ideas and themes from my earlier work as I explore wood and stone carving.  I am particularly interested in natural and human forms, negotiating the boundaries between realism and abstraction.  My work deals with emotional, psychological and spiritual states expressed through gesture and form.

I have been an artist since childhood.  My grandmother was a painter and a collector of art books.  During our visits to her home, she would give us art history slide lectures to practice her presentations for the local art group.  I did lots of drawing and crafts as a child and took several art classes in high school.  In college, I majored in Art Education at the State University College at Buffalo, NY, focusing most of my studio work on ceramics and weaving.  After a couple of years teaching art in public and private schools, I attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where I received my MFA in Studio Art in 1986.  At UNC-Greensboro I discovered my passion for sculpture, working primarily from the figure in clay, plaster and bronze.  But for the next 18 or so years, sculpture was relegated to the back burner as I entered the life stage known as “parenting.”   Throughout these years, the desire for creative outlet and the need for practical, income-producing activities has led me to a variety of freelance pursuits, including calligraphy, graphic design, exhibit design, design for the theater, and home remodeling.  In the 1990’s I attended graduate school again, receiving my M.Div. degree from Earlham School of Religion in 2001.  It was during my time in seminary that I began to explore the connections between art and spirituality.  This experience has re-shaped the direction of my life and art ever since.  I have led numerous workshops and retreats on topics related to art and spirituality, and enjoy helping others to discover and explore their own creative potential.  A couple of years ago, while working in a campus ministry position at Earlham College, I remembered how much I used to enjoy making sculpture and wondered why I had set it aside for so long.  Soon after that I decided to take up stone carving.  For the past two years I have had work accepted into the Carved in Stone exhibit at the Waldron Art Center in Bloomington, Indiana, and two of my sculptures are currently on display in the Hoosier Salon exhibit at the Indiana State Museum.  This past June I participated in the 10th annual Limestone Carving Symposium sponsored by the Bloomington Area Arts Council.  I am grateful to the Indiana Arts Commission for its generous grant this year in support of my project to create a new body of work in carved stone.