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All images ©LaFontsee Galleries. May not be reproduced without written permission.
Carol Masselink • Statement
Discovering that the way I needed to release a creative force, dormant for six decades, was to be a sculptor came as a dear and welcome surprise. That this passion was unearthed, and rather late in life, makes my use of stone and wood rather appropriate. With roots in the forests of Washington, the mountains of Montana and the Badlands of South Dakota, these amazing organic materials have been part of the architecture of my psyche and visual sensibility for all my years. They are comfortable. I know them. I can communicate with them and even, I hope, for them in new ways.
Through the process of working with the dichotomies found in stone and wood — hard/ soft, cold/warm, unyielding/resilient--I feel as though I am continuing my higher education as an inhabitant of this planet. Their abundance and variety astound. Their hidden treasures amaze. I am never sure what gem or nugget will announce itself when eased out of its bark or chiseled away from other, less significant, aggregates but I am rarely disappointed. It is a reincarnation of the material, hundreds or thousands of years after its initial inception. It is a new life in a new world, now commanding an audience of human eyes rather than stars and volcanic ash. So otherworldly yet so very real, it helps me understand and accept my humble place in the order of nature and the fleetingness of our time here.
During the time that I was not a sculptor, a great many experiences and ideas amassed. I suspect that this medium will be limitless and allow me to continue to produce compelling pieces - pieces that exhibit appropriate scale and balance; pieces that can either juxtapose or compliment to make a powerful connective statement with the material by which they are supported; pieces that harmonize like musical notes; pieces that beg for further exploration by the viewer; pieces that insist on being caressed regardless of the “do not touch” sign.
Carol Masselink • Biography
Education
1991
NCIDQ Certification
1989
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors, Aquinas College, Grand Rapids MI
Professional Experience
2011
Interior Designer
News Internationalʼs Conference and Event Center, London, UK
2010 & 2011
Principal Interior Designer
Reagan Marketing + Design
Historical Preservation and Relocation Project
1997-2000
Senior Creative Director, Reagan Marketing and Design, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1985-1997
Senior Interior Designer, Steelcase, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan
Selected Exhibitions
2003
LaFontsee Galleries, Holiday Muse, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Anthony Ardavin Gallery, Wet Paint, Atlanta, Georgia
Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, California
Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado
Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, Virginia
The Austin Fine Arts Festival, Austin, Texas
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Fair, Winter Park, Florida
Gallery 1401, A Look Outside, Chattanooga, Tennessee
2002
LaFontsee Galleries, LaFontsee Galleries� Fifteenth Anniversary Celebration, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Anthony Ardavin Gallery, New Works, Atlanta, Georgia
Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, California
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, Virginia
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Fair, Winter Park, Florida
2001
The River Gallery, Salon Show, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, Missouri
Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, California
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
LaFontsee Galleries, Common Ground, Three-Person Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
The River Gallery, Mind's Eye, Chattanooga, Tennessee
2000
LaFontsee Galleries, New Season, New Work, New Road, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Anthony Ardavin Gallery, Visionary, Atlanta, Georgia
Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, California
St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Miami, Florida
1999
Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, Missouri
St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, Missouri
Anthony Ardavin Gallery, Landscapes and Mysteries, Atlanta, Georgia
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
Anthony Ardavin Gallery, On Reflection, Atlanta, Georgia
LaFontsee Galleries, Scene and Unseen, Three-Person Exhibition, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Frederik Meijer Gardens, 8 Landscape Artists, Grand Rapids, Michigan
The River Gallery, Winter Cordial, Chattanooga, Tennessee
1998
LaFontsee Galleries, Metamorphosis, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, Colorado
Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois
Maralyn Wilson Gallery, 25th Anniversary Show, Birmingham, Alabama
1997
The River Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan
1996
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Art Auction '96, Montgomery, Alabama
Holland Smith Gallery, Recent Work, Huntsville, Alabama
The River Gallery, Bluff View Art District Exhibit, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Georgia Artists Network, Georgia Arts �96, Atlanta, Georgia; received Award of Merit
1995
Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Arts Festival of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
Hunter Museum of American Art, Spectrum, Chattanooga, Tennessee
The River Gallery, Views in Miniature, Chattanooga, Tennessee
The Arts Center, Ridge & Valley Region Landscapes, Rome, Georgia
Boardwalk Art Show, Virginia Beach, Virginia; received Award of Distinction
Mainsail Arts Festival, St. Petersburg, Florida; received Award of Distinction
Association for Visual Artists, Works in Public, Chattanooga, Tennessee; received First Place award
1994
The River Gallery, Salon Exhibition, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Association for Visual Artists, All Members Exhibition, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Creative Arts Guild, Festival, Dalton, Georgia
Hunter Museum of American Art, Visual Treasures of the Living Gorge, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Association for Visual Artists, Artstravaganza, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Berry College, Recent Small Oils, Rome, Georgia
Chiaha Arts Guild, Harvest Fair, Rome, Georgia; received Award of Merit
Association for Visual Artists, Works in Public, Chattanooga, Tennessee; received Second Place and Third Place awards
1993
Chiaha Arts Guild, Harvest Fair, Rome, Georgia; received Best in Show award
Association for Visual Artists, Artstravaganza, Chattanooga, Tennessee; received Best in Show award
1992
Creative Arts Guild, Festival, Dalton, Georgia; received Award of Excellence and Judge's Recommended Purchase Award
1991
The Masonry Institute, Ringgold, Georgia; received Design Award for Ringgold Elementary School
Public & Corporate Collections
� BancFirst, Oklahoma
� City of Chattanooga, Tennessee
� Creative Arts Guild, Dalton, Georgia
� Crowe & Dunleavy Law Firm, Oklahoma
� McAfee & Taft Law Firm, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
� Pierce Couch Hendrickson Baysinger & Green Law Firm, Oklahoma
� Oklahoma Cable Advertising, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
� Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Florida
� Southern Progress Corp. (Southern Living Magazine), Alabama
� SouthTrust Bank of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama
� Southwestern Bell Telephone
