Carole Loeffler
‘Encouragement for St Louis’
CAROLE LOEFFLER is a native of New Jersey and received her B.F.A. from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and her M.F.A. from University of South Florida in Tampa. Previously, she taught and directed the Foundations program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the School of Art and Design. Currently, she is the Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA and teaches Sculpture, Senior Seminar and coordinates the Foundations program. Carole has had group and solo exhibitions in many states throughout the US. She spent over 10 years investigating the color red through a variety of abstract sculptural approaches and processes. Most recently, she has been utilizing found vintage textiles with text to examine what it means to be a woman in our culture. Carole lives in Philadelphia with her husband, two children and dogs.
“My most recent text and found object based sculptural works are a reaction to the post-election, toxic political environment that is enveloping the United States and the world. These pieces are an attempt for me to process what it means to be a woman, be married to a family of immigrants and attempt to raise kind, thoughtful children in a world that feels upside down and inside out. I've been thinking not only of my role in society but am trying to give a voice to the experiences my mother, father, relatives and friends have had, and may continue to have, in their everyday lives. The work prior to 2017 provided a sense of awe, calm and relaxation for the viewer. Those works serve to be a catalyst for the one to heal, rest and
quiet the mind. As a young child I remember spending lazy summer afternoons lounging on the grass of our ample suburban lawn staring at the sky through the filtered frame of the tallest trees and their wavering limbs. My body physiologically remembers the feeling of peace, quiet and total calm that it would bring me. The experience of sitting under the protective limbs of a mature tree and having my body ooze into relaxation and my mind calm and reflective is the feeling I aim to replicate in my work. I strive to instill moments of quiet, peace, joy, awe, wonderment and nostalgia in the viewer. Suspending reality and emptying minds from the never ending to do lists.”
