It’s common for local artist and performer Julianna McCarthy to spend her summer creating art. This summer, however, McCarthy will be doing art at one of New York’s most recognizable art galleries.
McCarthy began residency on July 11 at the Carrie Able Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.
“I’m really honored,” McCarthy told the Saltwire Network. “I have visited New York three times and I am attracted to it. To see an exhibit where I was in New York, it was so cool. ”
This summer, the gallery is offering eight artists from around the world a place in their competitive summer artist-in-residence program, and McCarthy was selected among thousands who applied.
The program will culminate in a Williamsburg gallery exhibition in late August, seen in person at the gallery, as well as through its documentation in a virtual reality film.
During the program, artists like McCarthy will get advice from gallery owner, artist/founder Carrie Able, and other art experts, including museum consultants and curation directors. .
In addition, McCarthy and the other artists will retain 100 percent of the sales of their work shown at the end of the residency.
Family Talent Run
McCarthy, who grew up in Norris Point, said entertaining and creativity have always run in his family.
On his father’s side, his aunt was an opera singer, and the revered Tommy Sexton was his uncle and godfather.
“I had a lot of cool people who should have looked up when I was younger, but it was Tommy who inspired me to say,‘ It’s over! That’s what I want to do. ‘ He is one of the biggest influences in my life. ”
McCarthy, who speaks poorly personally, described himself as a very shy child. But after being on stage and performing, that shyness will disappear.
“When I perform in an actual show, it propels me forward. I love adrenaline. Anxiety becomes a barrier for auditions, where many times, nerves break into his performance. But that’s not an issue of going on stage and doing my job. ”
He attended university in Corner Brook and then lived in Toronto for eight years, working in the film and TV industry.
It was in Toronto where he rediscovered his love of the visual arts and specifically of creating collages. When he shared his collage work with others, he found people very receptive.
“My collage work excites people and wants to see more about it, so I just kept going.”
McCarthy created an Instagram account, Surreal Deep Cuts, to showcase his work. At first, the number of his followers was small, “about 100 people,” he said. What started as a side project to stay creative while returning to Newfoundland and Labrador like the 2020 pandemic hit, in recent years, has reached the front burner in terms of its creative output.
He has now made several hundred collages.
“It’s been exciting that something that used to be a private hobby has someone else interested,” he said.
This has led to her creating art for many local musicians and designing posters for local shows, especially since she also finds inspiration in St. Louis music.
Surrealistic Cuts
The type of art that McCarthy identified with the strongest was surrealist, and cited his influences as based on surrealism.
“I’ve always liked the term‘ deep cut ’in terms of songs that are less known and appreciated by a select few, passionate,” McCarthy said of his chosen Instagram handle.
“I consider myself a‘ deep cut ’as a collage artist – vague (perhaps until now) and not popular with most, but with a small, dedicated fan base. I am eternally grateful for them. ”
He explained that ‘cut’ is also literally in the sense that he does all of his collage by hand, cutting out words, shapes, and pictures.
After playing with these cuttings, the themes that emerge in one of his finished pieces become deeper and darker than intentionally when he started it.
When she was living in Toronto, she participated in a recreational therapy program to treat her post-traumatic stress disorder. When she started collage to help bring out some of the “dark things” she faced, she found her work communicated to people facing similar challenges.
“There is a lot of exploration of mental illness in my work, so there is also the connotation of cutting paper in exchange for cutting flesh. Not to be too scary, but my pieces can be very scary, so I think that’s pretty on-brand. ”
Tied up in New York
McCarthy, who has planted here in Newfoundland since COVID-19 started, said this New York residence is what he’s looking for.
For the application process, the gallery’s founder, Carrie Able, wanted each applicant to submit three pieces of art and descriptions of each piece. “They don’t want to know anything about me in terms of my age, gender. So I said I had nothing to lose, and they came back. They are interested, ”he said.
“We kept in touch, going back and forth, and I didn’t think anything would come of it. I just keep going for the hell of it.”
It intrigued McCarthy that they were only interested in his art. “Working in film and TV in Toronto, it’s all based on looks, so it’s refreshing that they don’t care about any of that.”
The back and forth led to an interview with Zoom, where McCarthy thought he would talk to a gallery employee who was “low on the food chain,” but when he logged into the meeting, he spoke to gallery owner.
“We really clicked. I just remember I ended that interview with the thought, OK, that might lead to something.
In his residency interview, McCarthy said he was comforted to know that he would find the perfect balance of joining an art company that is respected in the world but remains important to his work as an artist.
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Able told McCarthy he was inundated with dealing with fancy individuals and derivatives coming from good people.
“Carrie wants to find the sweet spot of a weird voice in a kind person,” McCarthy said.
“It works for me, because I have to stay true to my vision and my soul. I have to be authentic. I’m really excited to know what I’ll learn in New York because I’ll bring that back.”
